Nucleic acids encoding IKR-2, a protein kinase related to the I kappa B kinases

ABSTRACT

The invention is directed to purified and isolated kappa B kinase-related kinases 1 and 2 (IKR-1 and IKR-2) polypeptides and fragments thereof, the nucleic acids encoding such polypeptides, processes for production of recombinant forms of such polypeptides, antibodies generated against these polypeptides, fragmented peptides derived from these polypeptides, and the uses of the above.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a national application under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/US99/17578, having an international filing date of Aug. 4, 1999 and published in English on Feb. 17, 2000; which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional application No. 60/118,783, filed Feb. 5, 1999, and of U.S. provisional application No. 60/099,973, filed Sep. 11, 1998, and of U.S. provisional application No. 60/095,269, filed Aug. 4, 1998. Each of these applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention is directed to purified and isolated novel I kappa B kinase-related kinases 1 and 2 (IKR-1 and IKR-2) polypeptides and fragments thereof, the nucleic acids encoding such polypeptides, processes for production of recombinant forms of such polypeptides, antibodies generated against these polypeptides, fragmented peptides derived from these polypeptides, and uses thereof.

2. Description of Related Art

The transcription factor NF-κB (nuclear factor κB) is composed of homo- or heterodimers of proteins from the Rel family of transcription factors. The major genes regulated by NF-κB are immune, viral, and inflammatory response genes (C. H. Regnier et al., Cell, Vol. 90: 373-383, July 1997). When NF-κB is not involved in active transcription of these genes, it is located in the cytoplasm bound to the inhibitory protein IκB which regulates the activity of NF-κB (J. A. DiDonato et al., Nature, Vol. 388: 548-554, August 1997). IκB, when bound to NF-κB molecules, masks the nuclear localization signal of NF-κB, thus inactivating the protein.

In response to extracellular cytokines or other pro-inflammatory stimuli, IκB molecules are quickly phosphorylated by intracellular kinases such as I Kappa B kinases α and β (IKKα and IKKβ). Once activated, IKKα and IKKβ specifically phosphorylate IκB at specific serine residues in the N-terminus or IκB alpha at serine residues 32 and 36, thereby targeting this molecule for proteolytic destruction. The outcome of IκB phosphorylation and destruction is the release and subsequent translocation of NF-κB from the cytosol to the nucleus where it engages transcriptional regulatory sites on a number of immune related and pro-inflammatory genes.

The eukaryotic protein kinases make up a large and rapidly expanding family of proteins related on the basis of homologous catalytic domains. Spurred by the development of gene cloning and sequencing methodologies, distinct protein kinase genes have been identified from a wide selection of invertebrates and lower eukaryotes, including Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, Aplysia, Hydra, Dictyostelium, and budding (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and fission (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) yeast. Homologous genes have also been identified in higher plants. Protein kinases, however, are not limited to the cukaryotes. Enzyme activities have been well documented in prokaryotes, but the prokaryotic protein kinase genes are not obviously homologous to those of the eukaryotes.

Given the important function of kinases in general and IKK's specifically, there is a need in the art for additional members of the kinase family. In addition, in view of the continuing interest in protein research, the discovery, identification, and roles of new proteins, such as protein kinases, are at the forefront of modern molecular biology and biochemistry. Despite the growing body of knowledge, there is still a need in the art for the identity and function of proteins having kinase activities. In addition, because there is an unmet need for therapeutic compounds which interfere with activation of NF-κB and because protein kinases are useful biochemical reagents, there is also need in the art for the continued discovery of unique members of the IKB protein kinase family and potential therapeutic targets thereof.

In another aspect, the identification of the primary structure, or sequence, of an unknown protein is the culmination of an arduous process of experimentation. In order to identify an unknown protein, the investigator can rely upon a comparison of the unknown protein to known peptides using a variety of techniques known to those skilled in the art. For instance, proteins are routinely analyzed using techniques such as electrophoresis, sedimentation, chromatography, sequencing and mass spectrometry.

In particular, comparison of an unknown protein to polypeptides of known molecular weight allows a determination of the apparent molecular weight of the unknown protein (T. D. Brock and M. T. Madigan, Biology of Microorganisms 76-77 (Prentice Hall, 6d ed. 1991)). Protein molecular weight standards are commercially available to assist in the estimation of molecular weights of unknown protein (New England Biolabs Inc. Catalog:130-131, 1995; J. L. Hartley, U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,758). However, the molecular weight standards may not correspond closely enough in size to the unknown protein to allow an accurate estimation of apparent molecular weight. The difficulty in estimation of molecular weight is compounded in the case of proteins that are subjected to fragmentation by chemical or enzymatic means, modified by post-translational modification or processing, and/or associated with other proteins in non-covalent complexes.

In addition, the unique nature of the composition of a protein with regard to its specific amino acid constituents results in unique positioning of cleavage sites within the protein. Specific fragmentation of a protein by chemical or enzymatic cleavage results in a unique “peptide fingerprint” (D. W. Cleveland et al., J. Biol. Chem. 252:1102-1106, 1977; M. Brown et al., J. Gen. Virol. 50:309-316, 1980). Consequently, cleavage at specific sites results in reproducible fragmentation of a given protein into peptides of precise molecular weights. Furthermore, these peptides possess unique charge characteristics that determine the isoelectric pH of the peptide. These unique characteristics can be exploited using a variety of electrophoretic and other techniques (T. D. Brock and M. T. Madigan, Biology of Microorganisms 76-77 (Prentice Hall, 6d ed. 1991)).

Fragmentation of proteins is further employed for amino acid composition analysis and protein sequencing (P. Matsudiara, J. Biol. Chem. 262:10035-10038, 1987; C. Eckerskorn et al., Electrophoresis 1988, 9:830-838, 1988), particularly the production of fragments from proteins with a “blocked” N-terminus. In addition, fragmented proteins can be used for immunization, for affinity selection (R. A. Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,412), for determination of modification sites (e.g. phosphorylation), for generation of active biological compounds (T. D. Brock and M. T. Madigan, Biology of Microorganisms 300-301 (Prentice Hall, 6d ed. 1991)), and for differentiation of homologous proteins (M. Brown et al., J. Gen. Virol. 50:309-316, 1980).

In addition, when a peptide fingerprint of an unknown protein is obtained, it can be compared to a database of known proteins to assist in the identification of the unknown protein using mass spectrometry (W. J. Henzel et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:5011-5015, 1993; D. Fenyo et al., Electrophoresis 19:998-1005, 1998). A variety of computer software programs to facilitate these comparisons are accessible via the Internet, such as Protein Prospector (prospector.uscf.edu), MultiIdent (expasy.ch/sprot/multiident.html), PeptideSearch (mann.embl-heiedelberg.de/deSearch/FR_PeptideSearchForm.html), and ProFound (chait-sgi.rockefeller.edu/cgi-bin/prot-id-frag.html). These programs allow the user to specify the cleavage agent and the molecular weights of the fragmented peptides within a designated tolerance. The programs compare these molecular weights to protein molecular weight information stored in databases to assist in determining the identity of the unknown protein. Accurate information concerning the number of fragmented peptides and the precise molecular weight of those peptides is required for accurate identification. Therefore, increasing the accuracy in determining the number of fragmented peptides and their molecular weight should result in enhanced likelihood of success in the identification of unknown proteins.

In addition, peptide digests of unknown proteins can be sequenced using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and the resulting sequence searched against databases (J. K. Eng, et al., J. Am. Soc. Mass Spec. 5:976-989 (1994); M. Mann and M. Wilm, Anal. Chem. 66:4390-4399 (1994); J. A. Taylor and R. S. Johnson, Rapid Comm. Mass Spec. 11: 1067-1075 (1997)). Searching programs that can be used in this process exist on the Internet, such as Lutefisk 97 (Isbc.com:70/Lutefisk97.html), and the Protein Prospector, Peptide Search and ProFound programs described above. Therefore, adding the sequence of a gene and its predicted protein sequence and peptide fragments to a sequence database can aid in the identification of unknown proteins using tandem mass spectrometry.

Thus, there also exists a need in the art for polypeptides suitable for use in peptide fragmentation studies, for use in molecular weight measurements, and for use in protein sequencing using tandem mass spectrometry.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention aids in fulfilling these various needs in the art by providing isolated IKR-1 and IKR-2 nucleic acids and polypeptides encoded by these nucleic acids. Particular embodiments of the invention are directed to isolated IKR nucleic acid molecules (IKR-1 and IKR-2) comprising the DNA sequence of SEQ ID NOs:1 and 3 and isolated IKR nucleic acid molecules encoding the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs:2 and 4, as well as nucleic acid molecules complementary to these sequences. The invention also encompasses recombinant vectors that direct the expression of the nucleic acid molecules of the invention and host cells stably or transiently transformed or transfected with these vectors.

In addition, the invention encompasses methods of using the nucleic acids noted above to identify nucleic acids encoding proteins having kinase function and to study cell signal transduction and activation of transcription factors such as the NF-κB family of molecules.

The invention also encompasses isolated polypeptides and fragments thereof encoded by these nucleic acid molecules. The invention further encompasses methods for the production of these polypeptides, including culturing a host cell under conditions promoting expression and recovering the polypeptide from the culture medium. Especially, the expression of these polypeptides in bacteria, yeast, plant, insect, and animal cells is encompassed by the invention.

In general, the polypeptides of the invention can be used to study cellular processes such as immune regulation, cell proliferation, cell death, cell migration, cell-to-cell interaction, inflammatory responses, and cell signal transduction. In addition, these polypeptides can be used to identify proteins associated with IKR kinases.

In addition, the invention includes assays utilizing these polypeptides to screen for potential inhibitors of their kinase activity and methods of using these polypeptides as therapeutic agents for the treatment of diseases mediated by IKR polypeptide counter-structure molecules (including substrates, regulatory proteins, small molecules, etc.). Further, methods of using these polypeptides in the design of inhibitors thereof are also an aspect of the invention.

The invention further provides a method for using these polypeptides as molecular weight markers that allow the estimation of the molecular weight of a protein or a fragmented protein, as well as a method for the visualization of the molecular weight markers of the invention thereof using electrophoresis. The invention further encompasses methods for using the polypeptides of the invention as markers for determining the isoelectric point of an unknown protein, as well as controls for establishing the extent of fragmentation of a protein.

Further encompassed by this invention are kits to aid in these determinations.

Further encompassed by this invention is the use of the IKR nucleic acid sequences, predicted amino acid sequences of the polypeptide or fragments thereof, or a combination of the predicted amino acid sequences of the polypeptide and fragments thereof for use in searching an electronic database to aid in the identification of sample nucleic acids and/or proteins.

Isolated polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies that bind to these polypeptides are also encompassed by the invention, as well as the use of these antibodies to aid in purifying IKR polypeptides.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

This invention will be more fully described with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is the nucleotide sequence of IKR-1 SEQ ID NO:1;

FIG. 2 is the nucleotide sequence of IKR-2 SEQ ID NO:3;

FIG. 3 is the amino acid sequence of IKR-1 SEQ ID NO:2; and

FIG. 4 is the amino acid sequence of IKR-2 SEQ ID NO:4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The nucleic acid molecules encompassed in the invention include the following nucleotide sequences:

NAME:IKR-1

Nucleotide sequence:

1 CACAGGAAAC AGCTATGACC ATGATTACGC CAAGCTCGAA ATTAACCCTC

51 ACTAAAGGGA ACAAAAGCTG GAGCTCCACC GCGGTGGCGG CCGCTCTAGA

101 ACTAGTGGAT CCCCCGGGCT GCAGGAATTC CGGCCTGGGA CTGGGTACCC

151 CACTGCTCTC AGAGAGGCAG GAAAGAGACC TTCAGGCTCA AGACCATCAC

201 CTGCTTTGCC TGTGGATCCT GGGGGGCCCC ATAGCTACCA GGATCTTCTA

251 GGCACTGCCC AGGATTGACT TCAAGGCCTG AATCCCTGGG GGTGCCACCC

301 AGTTCCACAA GTCTGCATTG CCCTGCAACT GAGATAGGAG ATGGGGAAGA

351 AGATAGCCAA GCCCAGGAGA TGCAGAGTAC CACTAACTAC CTGTGGCATA

401 CTGATGACCT GCTAGGGCAG GGGGCCACTG CCAGTGTGTA CAAGGCCCGA

451 AACAAGAAAT CCGGGGAGGT GGTTGCTGTA AAGGTCTTCA ACTCAGCCAG

501 CTATCGGCGA CCTCCTGAGG TTCAGGTGAG GGAGTTTGAG GTCCTGCGGA

551 GGCTGAATCA CCAGAACATC GTGAAGCTAT TCGCAGTGGA GGAAACGGGA

601 GGCAGCCGGC AGAAGGTGCT AATCATGGAG TACTGCTCCA GTGGGAGCCT

651 GCTGAGCGTG CTGGAAGACC CTGAGAACAC GTTCGGGCTT TCTGAAGAGG

701 AGTTCCTAGT GGTGCTGCGC TGTGTGGTGG CTGGCATGAA CCACCTGCGG

751 GAGAATGGCA TTGTCCATCG GGACATCAAA CCTGGGAACA TCATGCGCCT

801 GGTGGGCGAG GAGGGGCAGA GCATCTATAA GCTGTCTGAC TTCGGGGCTG

851 CCCGCAAGCT GGACGATGAT GAGAAGTTTG TTTCTGTCTA TGGTACAGAG

901 GAATACCTGC ACCCTGACAT GTATGAGCGT GCAGTGCTGC GCAAACCCCA

951 GCAAAAGGCA TTTGGTGTGA CTGTGGATCT CTGGAGTATT GGGGTGACCC

1001 TGTACCACGC AGCCACAGGC AGTCTGCCCT TCATCCCCTT CGGTGGGCCC

1051 CGGCGCAACA AAGAGATCAT GTACAGAATC ACCACAGAGA AGCCAGCCGG

1101 GGCCATTTCA GGGACTCAGA AGCACGAAAA TGGTCCCTTG GAGTGGAGCT

1151 ACAGCCTCCC CATCACCTGT AGACTGTCCA TGGGACTGCA GAACCAGCTG

1201 GTGCCCATCC TGGCCAACAT CCTGGAGGTG GAAGAGGATA AGTGCTGGGG

1251 CTTTGATCAG TTCTTCGCGG AGACCAGTGA CATTCTGCAG CGAACGGTCA

1301 TCCACGTCTT TTCCCTACCC CAGGCCGTTT TGCATCATGT CTACATCCAC

1351 GCCCACAACA CGATTGCCAT CTTTTTGGAG GCTGTATATG AGCAGACCAA

1401 CGTGACCCCC AAACACCAGG AGTACCTCTT CGAGGGTCAC CCTTGTGTCC

1451 TTGAGCCAAG CCTCTCAGCC CAGCACATCG CCCACACAGC TGCCAGCAGC

1501 CCTCTAACTC TGTTCAGCAT GTCCAGCGAC ACACCTAAGG GGCTGGCCTT

1551 CAGGGACCCT GCTCTGGATG TCCCAAAGTT CGTCCCTAAG GTTGACCTAC

1601 AGGCCGATTA CAGCACAGCT AAGGGGGTGC TGGGCGCTGG CTACCAGGCC

1651 CTGTGGCTGG CGCGGGTCCT GCTGGATGGA CAGGCGTTGA TGCTTCGGGG

1701 GTTACATTGG GTCCTGGAGG TGCTTCAGGA CACGTGCCAG CAGACACTGG

1751 AGGTCACACG GACAGCCCTC CTCTACCTCA GCAGCAGCCT GGGCACTGAA

1801 AGGTTCAGCA GTGGAGCGGG GATGCCTGAC GTCCAGGAAC GAAAGGAGGC

1851 CACAGAGCTA AGAACCAGGC TGCAGACTCT CTCAGAGATC CTGTCTAAAT

1901 GTTCCCACAA TGTCACAGAA ACCCAAAGGA GCCTGAGCTG TCTGGGTGAA

1951 GAGCTTTTAA AGAACCGGGA CCAGATTCAT GAGGATAACA AAAGTATCCA

2001 GAAGATTCAG TGTTGTTTGG ACAAGATGCA CTTCATCTAC AAACAGTTCA

2051 AGAAATCCAG GATGAGGCCA GGGCTCAGCT ACAATGAGGA GCAGATCCAC

2101 AAGCTGGATA AGGTAAATTT CAGTCATCTA GCCAAGAGGC TGCTGCAGGT

2151 GTTCCAGGAG GAGTGTGTGC AGACGTATCA GGTGTCGCTG GTCACACACG

2201 GCAAGCGGAT GAGGCAGGTG CAGAGGGCCC AGAACCACCT GCATCTCATT

2251 GGCCACTCTG TGGCCACCTG TAACTCGGAA GCCCGGGGAG CCCAGGAGAG

2301 TCTGAACAAG ATCTTTGATC AGCTCCTTCT GGACAGAGCT TCCGAACAGG

2351 GAGCTGAGGT GTCACCGCAA CCTATGGCTC CTCATCCCGG CCCTGATCCG

2401 AAGGACCTGG TCTTCCACAT GCAGGAGCTT TGTAATGATA TGAAGCTATT

2451 GGCCTTTGAT CTCCAGGACA ACAACCGACT CATCGAACGG TTACATAGAG

2501 TTCCATCGGC ACCAGATGTC TGAGCTCCCT GGGGGTTCAC AAGGCACTCA

2551 GAAGCAATAG AAACATTCAT ATTGTACCCC TACACTGTGA GACCAAATTC

2601 AGGGCAAGTT CTGGTTCCAT CTCACTAGCC TACCTCCCTC TTGGCCATTG

2651 GCCATTGGCC AACAAACTAG CATTACTTTG ACTGTCCTCT TGGGAAGCAG

2701 CTAGGACAGG GACTCCTGGC CATCCCAGGC AGTATCTACA GAAGAGACCA

2751 TGCGGCTACC ACAGCCTTAT CAAGACACCA AGACTGTTCT TCCTCACCCA

2801 GGCTCTGGAG GTCTGGTCTT GGAAAGAAAA GGCTCAGCCC TCTCACGCTC

2851 TGCACTTCCC AGGACCAGCA GGCGTCTCCT GTGGCTTCTC CTGCCTCTCC

2901 AGGGTGCTGG ATCAGAATGC TTATTCTTGG TTGTTTCCTG TGCTGCTTCC

2951 TGAGTGTCCC CATCCCTGGC CTCAGGCAAC CCACAAACGG CCCCTCTGTG

3001 CTTGGTCTAG ATGCACCTGC ATTTGAGAAA GTGGGTGGTT GAGGCTAACT

3051 GCTGGTGCTT TGAGGATTCT CCTTGACCTT TTCTCCGAGG AACGCTTGGT

3101 TCTAAGAAAC AGCTGGTCAG TATCAACCAC AGCCATGCTA ACTGGACAGA

3151 TGTTGGAACC CAAAGTCCTA AGGAGAGAGC AGGCCTGCAC CTTCAGACAT

3201 GGAATAAATA CATCGCCTTT TCTGTTTAAA AAAAAAAAAA AAAAACCGGA

3251 ATTCGATATC AAGCTTATCG ATACCGTCGA CCTCGAGGGG GGGCCCGGTA

3301 CCCAATTCGC CCTATAGTGA GTCGTATTAC AATTCACTGG CCGTCGTTTT

3351 ACAACGTCGT GACTGGGAAA ACCCTGGCGT TACCC (SEQ ID NO:1)

NAME:IKR-2

Nucleotide sequence:

1 TTGGGTAACG CCAGGGTTTT CCCAGTCACG ACGTTGTAAA ACGACGGCCA

51 GTGAATTGTA ATACGACTCA CTATAGGGCG AATTGGGTAC CGGGCCCCCC

101 CTCGAGGTCG ACGGTATCGA TAAGCTTGAT ATCGAATTCC GGCACTCGCG

151 GGCATACATG CAAATCTCTT CTTCCCCCTT ATCGTGAGGA GAAGCGCCTG

201 GACAAGCCGA GATGCAGAGC ACCTCCAACC ATCTGTGGCT CCTGTCTGAT

251 ATCCTAGGCC AGGGGGCCAC TGCAAATGTC TTCCGAGGAA GGCATAAGAA

301 AACTGGTGAT CTCTATGCTG TCAAAGTATT TAATAACATA AGCTTCCTTC

351 GCCCAGTGGA TGTTCAAATG AGAGAATTTG AAGTGTTAAA AAAACTCAAT

401 CACAAAAACA TTGTCAAGTT ATTTGCTATT GAAGAGGAGA CAACAACAAG

451 ACATAAAGTG CTTATTATGG AGTTTTGTCC CTGTGGGAGT TTATACACTG

501 TTCTAGAGGA GCCGTCCAAT GCGTATGGAC TTCCAGAATC AGAATTTCTC

551 ATTGTCTTAC GAGATGTGGT GGGCGGGATG AATCATCTCC GAGAGAACGG

601 CATAGTGCAC CGAGATATCA AGCCAGGCAA CATCATGCGC GTCATAGGGG

651 AGGACGGCCA GTCTGTGTAC AAACTCACGG ATTTCGGCGC CGCTCGAGAG

701 CTGGAGGACG ATGAGCAGTT TGTGTCTCTG TACGGCACAG AAGAGTACCT

751 GCATCCGGAC ATGTATGAAA GGGCAGTGCT AAGAAAGGAC CATCAGAAGA

801 AGTACGGGGC TACCGTTGAT CTGTGGAGTG TTGGAGTGAC ATTCTACCAT

851 GCAGCCACGG GGTCGCTGCC GTTTAGACCC TTCGAGGGGC CTCGGAGGAA

901 CAAAGAAGTA ATGTATAAAA TAATCACTGG GAAGCCGTCT GGTGCAATAT

951 CTGGAGTACA GAAAGCAGAA AACGGACCAA TTGACTGGAG TGGAGACATG

1001 CCTCTCTCCT GTAGTCTTTC TCAGGGTCTT CAGGCACTGC TTACCCCAGT

1051 TCTTGCAAAC ATACTTGAAG CTGATCAGGA GAAGTGCTGG GGTTTTGACC

1101 AGTTCTTTGC AGAGACCAGT GATGTGCTTC ACCGAATGGT GATCCATGTC

1151 TTCTCGCTAC AACACATGAC GGCGCATAAG ATTTACATTC ACAGCTATAA

1201 CACTGCTGCT GTGTTCCATG AACTGGTCTA TAAACAAACC AAGATTGTTT

1251 CCTCAAATCA AGAACTTATC TACGAAGGAC GACGCTTAGT CCTAGAACTC

1301 GGACGACTAG CCCAGCATTT TCCTAAAACC ACAGAGGAAA ATCCTATCTT

1351 TGTCACGAGC CGGGAACAAC TCAATACCGT AGGACTGAGA TATGAAAAAA

1401 TTTCCCTCCC TAAAATACAT CCACGCTATG ATCTGGATGG GGACGCCAGC

1451 ATGGCCAAGG CAGTGACGGG GGTTGTGTGC TACGCCTGCA GAACTGCCAG

1501 TACCCTGCTG CTCTATCAAG AATTAATGCG AAAGGGGGTA CGGTGGCTGG

1551 TTGAACTGGT TAAGGATGAT TACAACGAGA CCGTCCACAA GAAGACGGAG

1601 GTAGTGATCA CACTGGATTT CTGCATCAGG AACATTGAGA AGACTGTGAA

1651 AGTGTATGAG AAGTTGATGA AGGTCAACCT GGAAGCCGCA GAGCTGGGTG

1701 AGATTTCAGA CATACACACC AAGCTGCTGA GACTTTCCAG TTCTCAGGGA

1751 ACAATAGAAA GCAGTCTTCA GGACATCAGC AGCAGGCTGT CTCCAGGGGG

1801 CTTGCTGGCC GACACCTGGG CACATCAAGA AGGCACGCAT CCAAGAGACA

1851 GGAATGTAGA AAAACTGCAG GTCCTGTTGA ACTGCATCAC AGAGATTTAC

1901 TATCAGTTCA AAAAAGACAA AGCAGAACGC AGACTAGCTT ATAATGAAGA

1951 ACAGATCCAC AAATTTGATA AGCAAAAATT GTATTACCAT GCCACAAAAG

2001 CAATGAGCCA CTTCTCAGAA GAATGTGTTA GAAAGTATGA AGCGTTTAAA

2051 GATAAGTCGG AAGAGTGGAT GAGAAAGATG CTTCATCTTA GGAAGCAGCT

2101 GTTATCGCTA ACTAATCAGT GTTTCGATAT CGAAGAGGAA GTGTCCAAGT

2151 ATCAAGACTA TACTAACGAG TTACAAGAAA CTCTGCCTCA GAAAATGCTC

2201 GCAGCCTCCG GCGGCGTCAA GCACGCCATG GCCCCGATCT ACCCCAGCTC

2251 TAACACCTTA GTGGAGATGA CTCTTGGTAT GAAGAAGTTA AAGGAGGAGA

2301 TGGAAGGCGT GGTTAAGGAG CTGGCCGAGA ACAATCATAT TTTAGAAAGG

2351 TTTGGGTCTT TAACAATGGA TGGTGGCCTT CGCAATGTGG ACTGTCTTTA

2401 GCTTCCTAGG GAGTCTGGGA AGTTCTAGTT TGCACAAGAA GATAACACTG

2451 GGGCACGAAA TGAACACCTT TGTGAATGGA GTTCTTATTT CTACACTTCA

2501 GTATTTGATG AGGTCATGTA AATATGTACA GTTTGTAAAT ACATATACAT

2551 ATATATATAT ATATATGAAT TTTGGCTGCT GTAACAAAGA CAGATTGACC

2601 TCAGCGAGCT GTAGAAGAAA GCCATGACCA GCCAGTGCTT TGGGGTGCTC

2651 TCCCTAATTC TTCACATAAG GCTGGAGAAA TCAATTGCTT GGTGCCTAAA

2701 GAAAGTATTT TTTGAATTGG CATTCTTAAA ATTTTGAAAG GACTGATAGT

2751 CGACACAGTG TAACTGGAGG AGACACAGGG CTTTGTGACG GGAACAGAAC

2801 CGCGGTTTAA CCACAGTCGG TTCCCTGACA AGGATAAAGT GGCATTATCT

2851 CATTTGACCG GGTGCCCAAA TCTCAGTTTT CCTCGGATGT TTGATTTTAG

2901 GTGAATTATT GAGCAAAAAC TTTAAAGTGA ATTCATTGTT TAAACTATTC

2951 ATTTTTCCTT TGGTCATGAA TGTGTAATTG TCATTCAGAT CCTAGTATCA

3001 TTTCAATTGT CTTAAGATGT ATATTTCTGT ACTTTAATTC TGCTATTTCA

3051 TGAAAAAATA AATTTCTCCC GGAATTCCTG CAGCCCGGGG GATCCACTAG

3101 TTCTAGAGCG GCCGCCACCG CGGTGGAGCT CCAGCTTTTG TTCCCTTTAG

3151 TGAGGGTTAA TTTCGAGCTT GGCGTAATCA TGGTCATAGC TGTTTCCTGT

3201 GTGAAATTGT TATCCGCTC (SEQ ID NO:3)

The amino acid sequences of the polypeptides encoded by the nucleotide sequence of the invention include:

Name IKR-1 (Polypeptide)

1 MQSTTNYLWH TDDLLGQGAT ASVYKARNKK SGEVVAVKVF NSASYRRPPE

51 VQVREFEVLR RLNHQNIVKL FAVEETGGSR QKVLIMEYCS SGSLLSVLED

101 PENTFGLSEE EFLVVLRCVV AGMNHLRENG IVHRDIKPGN IMRLVGEEGQ

151 SIYKLSDFGA ARKLDDDEKF VSVYGTEEYL HPDMYERAVL RKPQQKAFGV

201 TVDLWSIGVT LYHAATGSLP FIPFGGPRRN KEIMYRITTE KPAGAISGTQ

251 KHENGPLEWS YSLPITCRLS MGLQNQLVPI LANILEVEED KCWGFDQFFA

301 ETSDILQRTV IHVFSLPQAV LHHVYIHAHN TIAIFLEAVY EQTNVTPKHQ

351 EYLFEGHPCV LEPSLSAQHI AHTAASSPLT LFSMSSDTPK GLAFRDPALD

401 VPKFVPKVDL QADYSTAKGV LGAGYQALWL ARVLLDGQAL MLRGLHWVLE

451 VLQDTCQQTL EVTRTALLYL SSSLGTERFS SGAGMPDVQE RKEATELRTR

501 LQTLSEILSK CSHNVTETQR SLSCLGEELL KNRDQIHEDN KSIQKIQCCL

551 DKMHFIYKQF KKSRMRPGLS YNEEQIHKLD KVNFSHLAKR LLQVFQEECV

601 QTYQVSLVTH GKRMRQVQRA QNHLHLIGHS VATCNSEARG AQESLNKIFD

651 QLLLDRASEQ GAEVSPQPMA PHPGPDPKDL VFHMQELCND MKLLAFDLQD

701 NNRLIERLHR VPSAPDV (SEQ ID NO:2)

Name:IKR-2 (Polypeptide)

1 MQSTSNHLWL LSDILGQGAT ANVFRGRHKK TGDLYAVKVF NNISFLRPVD

51 VQMREFEVLK KLNHKNIVKL FAIEEETTTR HKVLIMEFCP CGSLYTVLEE

101 PSNAYGLPES EFLIVLRDVV GGMNHLRENG IVHRDIKPGN IMRVIGEDGQ

151 SVYKLTDFGA ARELEDDEQF VSLYGTEEYL HPDMYERAVL RKDHQKKYGA

201 TVDLWSVGVT FYHAATGSLP FRPFEGPRRN KEVMYKIITG KPSGAISGVQ

251 KAENGPIDWS GDMPLSCSLS QGLQALLTPV LANILEADQE KCWGFDQFFA

301 ETSDVLHRMV IHVFSLQHMT AHKIYIHSYN TAAVFHELVY KQTKIVSSNQ

351 ELIYEGRRLV LELGRLAQHF PKTTEENPIF VTSREQLNTV GLRYEKISLP

401 KIHPRYDLDG DASMAKAVTG VVCYACRTAS TLLLYQELMR KGVRWLVELV

451 KDDYNETVHK KTEVVITLDF CIRNIEKTVK VYEKLMKVNL EAAELGEISD

501 IHTKLLRLSS SQGTIESSLQ DISSRLSPGG LLADTWAHQE GTHPRDRNVE

551 KLQVLLNCIT EIYYQFKKDK AERRLAYNEE QIHKFDKQKL YYHATKAMSH

601 FSEECVRKYE AFKDKSEEWM RKMLHLRKQL LSLTNQCFDI EEEVSKYQDY

651 TNELQETLPQ KMLAASGGVK HAMAPIYPSS NTLVEMTLGM KKLKEEMEGV

701 VKELAENNHI LERFGSLTMD GGLRNVDCL (SEQ ID NO: 4)

The discovery of the nucleic acids of the invention enables the construction of expression vectors comprising nucleic acid sequences encoding polypeptides; host cells transfected or transformed with the expression vectors; isolated and purified biologically active polypeptides and fragments thereof. The invention also enables the use of the nucleic acids or oligonucleotides thereof as probes to identify nucleic acid encoding proteins having kinase function. The discovery further provides for the use of such polypeptides and soluble fragments to function as a kinase. The polypeptides and fragments can also generate antibodies, and among the uses of such antibodies is the purification of IKR polypeptides. Finally, the invention enables the use of such polypeptides and fragmented peptides as molecular weight markers and as controls for peptide fragmentation, as well as kits comprising these reagents.

Nucleic Acid Molecules

In a particular embodiment, the invention relates to certain isolated nucleotide sequences that are free from contaminating endogenous material. A “nucleotide sequence” refers to a polynucleotide molecule in the form of a separate fragment or as a component of a larger nucleic acid construct. The nucleic acid molecule has been derived from DNA or RNA isolated at least once in substantially pure form and in a quantity or concentration enabling identification, manipulation, and recovery of its component nucleotide sequences by standard biochemical methods (such as those outlined in Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd sed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1989)). Such sequences are preferably provided and/or constructed in the form of an open reading frame uninterrupted by internal non-translated sequences, or introns, that are typically present in eukaryotic genes. Sequences of non-translated DNA can be present 5′ or 3′ from an open reading frame, where the same do not interfere with manipulation or expression of the coding region.

Nucleic acid molecules of the invention include DNA in both single-stranded and double-stranded form, as well as the RNA complement thereof. DNA includes, for example, cDNA, genomic DNA, chemically synthesized DNA, DNA amplified by PCR, and combinations thereof Genomic DNA may be isolated by conventional techniques, e.g., using the cDNA of SEQ ID NOs:1 and 2, or a suitable fragment thereof, as a probe.

The DNA molecules of the invention include full length genes as well as polynucleotides and fragments thereof. Other embodiments include DNA encoding a truncated version of the kinase containing, for example, only the kinase catalytic domain or a catalytically inactive mutant thereof.

Preferred Sequences

Particularly preferred nucleotide sequences of the invention are SEQ ID NOs:1 and 3, as set forth above. cDNA clones having the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NOs:1 and 3 were isolated as described in Example 1. Briefly, a mouse transit amplifying (TRAM) cell EST library was queried using the tBlastN algorithm to identify sequences related to KIAA 0151 (GenBank accession number D63485), a kinase of unknown function which appears to be closely related to the I kappa B kinase (IKK) family of kinases. Query results yielded IKR-1 and IKR-2 ESTs which were then used to isolate IKR-1 and IKR-2 cDNA clones from the murine T-cell line bacteriophage library EL46.1N7ZAP.

IKR-1 and IKR-2 share 46% identity (56% similarity) to one another, whereas IKR-1 has 83% identity (87% similarity) with KIAA0151 and IKR-2 has 49% identity (58% similarity) with KIAA 0151. Homologies of IKR-1 and IKR-2 toward the IKK family members are not as high as homologies to KIAA 0151, generally in the range of 20% identiiy and 30% similarity. IKR-2 also exhibits 94% identity to a recent entry (W60724) in the Derwent Geneseq database which describes a new protein kinase T2K that specifically phosphorylates IkappaB.

The sequences of amino acids encoded by the DNA of SEQ ID NOs:1 and 3 are shown in SEQ ID NOs:2 and 4. These sequences identify the IKR polynucleotides as members of the I kappa B kinase-related family. Members of this family such as IKKα and IKKβ are activated in response to cytokine or other pro-inflammatory stimuli. Activated IKKα and IKKβ specifically phosphorylate the inhibitory subunit I kappa B (IκB) alpha, which is bound to the transcription factor NF-κB, at serine residues 32 and 36, thereby targeting this molecule for proteolytic destruction. Phosphorylation and destruction of IκB results in the release of NF-κB and its translocation from the cytosol to the nucleus where it engages transcriptional regulatory sites on a number of pro-inflammatory genes. The close similarity of the catalytic domains of IKR-1 and IKR-2 to the IKKs strongly suggest that they too will participate in the phosphorylation of IκB (or related molecules) and lead to the activation of NF-κB (or related transcription factors).

Additional Sequences

Due to the known degeneracy of the genetic code, wherein more than one codon can encode the same amino acid, a DNA sequence can vary from that shown in SEQ ID NOs:1 and 3, and still encode a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NOs:2 and 4. Such variant DNA sequences can result from silent mutations (e.g., occurring during PCR amplification), or can be the product of deliberate mutagenesis of a native sequence.

The invention thus provides isolated DNA sequences encoding polypeptides of the invention, selected from: (a) DNA comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NOs:1 and 3; (b) DNA encoding the polypeptides of SEQ ID NOs:2 and 4; (c) DNA capable of hybridization to a DNA of (a) or (b) under conditions of moderate stringency and which encodes polypeptides of the invention; (d) DNA capable of hybridization to a DNA of (a) or (b) under conditions of high stringency and which encodes polypeptides of the invention, and (e) DNA which is degenerate as a result of the genetic code to a DNA defined in (a), (b), (c), or (d) and which encode polypeptides of the invention. Of course, polypeptides encoded by such DNA sequences are encompassed by the invention.

As used herein, conditions of moderate stringency can be readily determined by those having ordinary skill in the art based on, for example, the length of the DNA. The basic conditions are set forth by Sambrook et al. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2 ed. Vol. 1, pp. 1.101-104, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, (1989), and include use of a prewashing solution for the nitrocellulose filters 5×SSC, 0.5% SDS, 1.0 mM EDTA (pH 8.0), hybridization conditions of about 50% formamide, 6×SSC at about 42° C. (or other similar hybridization solution, such as Stark's solution, in about 50% formamide at about 42° C.), and washing conditions of about 60° C., 0.5×SSC, 0.1% SDS. Conditions of high stringency can also be readily determined by the skilled artisan based on, for example, the length of the DNA. Generally, such conditions are defined as hybridization conditions as above, and with washing at approximately 68° C., 0.2×SSC, 0.1% SDS. The skilled artisan will recognize that the temperature and wash solution salt concentration can be adjusted as necessary according to factors such as the length of the probe.

In another embodiment, the nucleic acid molecules of the invention also comprise nucleotide sequences that are at least 80% identical to a native sequence. Also contemplated are embodiments in which a nucleic acid molecule comprises a sequence that is at least 90% identical, at least 95% identical, at least 98% identical, at least 99% identical, or at least 99.9% identical to a native sequence.

The percent identity may be determined by visual inspection and mathematical calculation. Alternatively, the percent identity of two nucleic acid sequences can be determined by comparing sequence information using the GAP computer program, version 6.0 described by Devereux et al. (Nucl. Acids Res. 12:387, 1984) and available from the University of Wisconsin Genetics Computer Group (UWGCG). The preferred default parameters for the GAP program include: (1) a unary comparison matrix (containing a value of 1 for identities and 0 for non-identities) for nucleotides, and the weighted comparison matrix of Gribskov and Burgess, Nucl. Acids Res. 14:6745, 1986, as described by Schwartz and Dayhoff, eds., Atlas of Protein Sequence and Structure, National Biomedical Research Foundation, pp. 353-358, 1979; (2) a penalty of 3.0 for each gap and an additional 0.10 penalty for each symbol in each gap; and (3) no penalty for end gaps. Other programs used by one skilled in the art of sequence comparison may also be used.

The invention also provides isolated nucleic acids useful in the production of polypeptides. Such polypeptides may be prepared by any of a number of conventional techniques. A DNA sequence encoding an IKR-1 or IKR-2 polypeptide or desired fragment thereof may be subcloned into an expression vector for production of the polypeptide or fragment. The DNA sequence advantageously is fused to a sequence encoding a suitable leader or signal peptide. Alternatively, the desired fragment may be chemically synthesized using known techniques. DNA fragments also may be produced by restriction endonuclease digestion of a full length cloned DNA sequence, and isolated by electrophoresis on agarose gels. If necessary, oligonucleotides that reconstruct the 5′ or 3′ terminus to a desired point may be ligated to a DNA fragment generated by restriction enzyme digestion. Such oligonucleotides may additionally contain a restriction endonuclease cleavage site upstream of the desired coding sequence, and position an initiation codon (ATG) at the N-terminus of the coding sequence.

The well-known polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure also may be employed to isolate and amplify a DNA sequence encoding a desired protein fragment. Oligonucleotides that define the desired termini of the DNA fragment are employed as 5′ and 3′ primers. The oligonucleotides may additionally contain recognition sites for restriction endonucleases, to facilitate insertion of the amplified DNA fragment into an expression vector. PCR techniques are described in Saiki et al., Science 239:487 (1988); Recombinant DNA Methodology, Wu et al., eds., Academic Press, Inc., San Diego (1989), pp. 189-196; and PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications, Innis et al., eds., Academic Press, Inc. (1990).

Polypeptides and Fragments Thereof

The invention encompasses polypeptides and fragments thereof in various forms, including those that are naturally occurring or produced through various techniques such as procedures involving recombinant DNA technology. Such forms include, but are not limited to, derivatives, variants, and oligomers, as well as fusion proteins or fragments thereof

Polypeptides and Fragments Thereof

The polypeptides of the invention include full length proteins (amino acids 1 to 717 of SEQ ID NO:2 and amino acids 1 to 729 of SEQ ID NO:4) encoded by the nucleic acid sequences set forth above. Particularly preferred polypeptides comprise the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NOs:2 and 4 with particularly preferred fragments comprising the N-terminal kinase domain (amino acids 1 to 300) of SEQ ID NOs:2 and 4.

The invention also provides polypeptides and fragments of the kinase domain that retain a desired biological activity. Particular embodiments are directed to polypeptide fragments that retain the ability to bind “binding partners”, native cognates, substrates, or counter-structures. Such a fragment may be a soluble polypeptide. In another embodiment, the polypeptides and fragments advantageously include regions that are conserved in the I kappa B kinase family as described above.

Also provided herein are polypeptide fragments comprising at least 20, or at least 30, contiguous amino acids of the sequence of SEQ ID NOs:2 and 4. Fragments derived from different domains find use in studies of signal transduction and in regulating cellular processes associated with transduction of biological signals. Polypeptide fragments also may be employed as immunogens, in generating antibodies.

Variants

Naturally occurring variants as well as derived variants of the polypeptides and fragments are provided herein.

Variants may exhibit amino acid sequences that are at least 80% identical. Also contemplated are embodiments in which a polypeptide or fragment comprises an amino acid sequence that is at least 90% identical, at least 95% identical, at least 98% identical, at least 99% identical, or at least 99.9% identical to the preferred polypeptide or fragment thereof. Percent identity may be determined by visual inspection and mathematical calculation. Alternatively, the percent identity of two protein sequences can be determined by comparing sequence information using the GAP computer program, based on the algorithm of Needleman and Wunsch (J. Mol. Bio. 48:443, 1970) and available from the University of Wisconsin Genetics Computer Group (UWGCG). The preferred default parameters for the GAP program include: (1) a scoring matrix, blosum62, as described by Henikoff and Henikoff (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:10915, 1992); (2) a gap weight of 12; (3) a gap length weight of 4; and (4) no penalty for end gaps. Other programs used by one skilled in the art of sequence comparison may also be used.

The variants of the invention include, for example, those that result from alternate mRNA splicing events or from proteolytic cleavage. Alternate splicing of mRNA may, for example, yield a truncated but biologically active protein. Variations attributable to proteolysis include, for example, differences in the N- or C-termini upon expression in different types of host cells, due to proteolytic removal of one or more terminal amino acids from the protein (generally from 1-5 terminal amino acids). Proteins in which differences in amino acid sequence are attributable to genetic polymorphism (allelic variation among individuals producing the protein) are also contemplated herein.

Additional variants within the scope of the invention include polypeptides that may be modified to create derivatives thereof by forming covalent or aggregative conjugates with other chemical moieties, such as glycosyl groups, lipids, phosphate, acetyl groups and the like. Covalent derivatives may be prepared by linking the chemical moieties to functional groups on amino acid side chains or at the N-terminus or C-terminus of a polypeptide. Conjugates comprising diagnostic (detectable) or therapeutic agents attached thereto are within the scope of the invention.

Other derivatives include covalent or aggregative conjugates of the polypeptides with other proteins or polypeptides, such as by synthesis in recombinant culture as N-terminal or C-terminal fusions. Further, fusion proteins can comprise peptides added to facilitate purification and identification. Such peptides include, for example, poly-His or the antigenic identification peptides described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,912 and in Hopp et al., Bio/Technology 6:1204, 1988. One such peptide is the FLAG® peptide, Asp-Tyr-Lys-Asp-Asp-Asp-Asp-Lys, which is highly antigenic and provides an epitope reversibly bound by a specific monoclonal antibody, enabling rapid assay and facile purification of expressed recombinant protein. A murine hybridoma designated 4E11 produces a monoclonal antibody that binds the FLAG® peptide in the presence of certain divalent metal cations, as described in U.S. Pat. 5,011,912, hereby incorporated by reference. The 4E11 hybridoma cell line has been deposited with the American Type Culture Collection under accession no. HB 9259. Monoclonal antibodies that bind the FLAG® peptide are available from Eastman Kodak Co., Scientific Imaging Systems Division, New Haven, Conn.

Variants include polypeptides that are substantially homologous to the native form, but which have an amino acid sequence different from that of the native form because of one or more deletions, insertions or substitutions. For example, these variants may exhibit differences in either kinase subdomain I or II. Kinase subdomain I has the consensus sequence “og-G-og-v”, where uppercase letters represent invariant residues, lowercase letters represent highly conserved residues, “o” represents positions held by non polar residues, and “-” represents any amino acid. All lettering conforms to standard single letter code. “g” and “G” are Glycine and “v” is Valine. Kinase subdomain II has the consensus sequence “oaoK-o” where the same rules apply as described above, and “a” is Alanine and “K” is Lysine. Preferred variants are catalytically inactive variants of both IKR-1 and IKR-2 in which, for example, the invariant lysine residue (amino acid 38 in SEQ ID NOs:2 and 4) present in kinase subdomain II in the active site of functional kinases is substituted for an arginine or alanine residue. Additional variants encompass the substitution of invariant glycine residue (amino acid 18 in SEQ ID NOs:2 and 4) present in kinase subdomain I in the ATP binding site of kinases for any other residue.

Other particular embodiments include, but are not limited to, polypeptides that comprise from one to ten deletions, insertions or substitutions of amino acid residues, when compared to a native sequence.

A given amino acid may be replaced, for example, by a residue having similar physiochemical characteristics. Examples of such conservative substitutions include substitution of one aliphatic residue for another, such as lie, Val, Leu, or Ala for one another; substitutions of one polar residue for another, such as between Lys and Arg, Glu and Asp, or Gin and Asn; or substitutions of one aromatic residue for another, such as Phe, Trp, or Tyr for one another. Other conservative substitutions, e.g., involving substitutions of entire regions having similar hydrophobicity characteristics, are well known.

Similarly, the DNAs of the invention include variants that differ from a native DNA sequence because of one or more deletions, insertions or substitutions, but that encode a biologically active polypeptide.

In another example of variants, sequences encoding Cys residues that are not essential for biological activity can be altered to cause the Cys residues to be deleted or replaced with other amino acids, preventing formation of incorrect intramolecular disulfide bridges upon folding or renaturation.

Other variants are prepared by modification of adjacent dibasic amino acid residues, to enhance expression in yeast systems in which KEX2 protease activity is present. EP 212,914 discloses the use of site-specific mutagenesis to inactivate KEX2 protease processing sites in a protein. KEX2 protease processing sites are inactivated by deleting, adding or substituting residues to alter Arg-Arg, Arg-Lys, and Lys-Arg pairs to eliminate the occurrence of these adjacent basic residues. Lys-Lys pairings are considerably less susceptible to KEX2 cleavage, and conversion of Arg-Lys or Lys-Arg to Lys-Lys represents a conservative and preferred approach to inactivating KEX2 sites.

Production of Polypeptides and Fragments Thereof

Expression, isolation and purification of the polypeptides and fragments of the invention may be accomplished by any suitable technique, including but not limited to the following:

Expression Systems

The present invention also provides recombinant cloning and expression vectors containing DNA, as well as host cell containing the recombinant vectors. Expression vectors comprising DNA may be used to prepare the polypeptides or fragments of the invention encoded by the DNA. A method for producing polypeptides comprises culturing host cells transformed with a recombinant expression vector encoding the polypeptide, under conditions that promote expression of the polypeptide, then recovering the expressed polypeptides from the culture. The skilled artisan will recognize that the procedure for purifying the expressed polypeptides will vary according to such factors as the type of host cells employed and any particular characteristics of the polypeptide.

Any suitable expression system may be employed. The vectors include a DNA encoding a polypeptide or fragment of the invention, operably linked to suitable transcriptional or translational regulatory nucleotide sequences, such as those derived from a mammalian, microbial, viral, or insect gene. Examples of regulatory sequences include transcriptional promoters, operators, or enhancers, an mRNA ribosomal binding site, and appropriate sequences which control transcription and translation initiation and termination. Nucleotide sequences are operably linked when the regulatory sequence functionally relates to the DNA sequence. Thus, a promoter nucleotide sequence is operably linked to a DNA sequence if the promoter nucleotide sequence controls the transcription of the DNA sequence. An origin of replication that confers the ability to replicate in the desired host cells, and a selection gene by which transformants are identified, are generally incorporated into the expression vector.

In addition, a sequence encoding an appropriate signal peptide (native or heterologous) can be incorporated into expression vectors. A DNA sequence for a signal peptide (secretory leader) may be fused in frame to the nucleic acid sequence of the invention so that the DNA is initially transcribed, and the mRNA translated, into a fusion protein comprising the signal peptide. A signal peptide that is functional in the intended host cells promotes extracellular secretion of the polypeptide. The signal peptide is cleaved from the polypeptide upon secretion of polypeptide from the cell.

The skilled artisan will also recognize that the position(s) at which the signal peptide is cleaved may differ from that predicted by computer program, and may vary according to such factors as the type of host cells employed in expressing a recombinant polypeptide. A protein preparation may include a mixture of protein molecules having different N-terminal amino acids, resulting from cleavage of the signal peptide at more than one site.

Suitable host cells for expression of polypeptides include prokaryotes, yeast or higher eukaryotic cells. Mammalian or insect cells are generally preferred for use as host cells. Appropriate cloning and expression vectors for use with bacterial, fungal, yeast, and mammalian cellular hosts are described, for example, in Pouwels et al. Cloning Vectors: A Laboratory Manual, Elsevier, New York, (1985). Cell-free translation systems could also be employed to produce polypeptides using RNAs derived from DNA constructs disclosed herein.

Prokaryotic Systems

Prokaryotes include gram-negative or gram-positive organisms. Suitable prokaryotic host cells for transformation include, for example, E. coli, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella typhimurium, and various other species within the genera Pseudomonas, Streptomyces, and Staphylococcus. In a prokaryotic host cell, such as E. coli, a polypeptide may include an N-terminal methionine residue to facilitate expression of the recombinant polypeptide in the prokaryotic host cell. The N-terminal Met may be cleaved from the expressed recombinant polypeptide.

Expression vectors for use in prokaryotic host cells generally comprise one or more phenotypic selectable marker genes. A phenotypic selectable marker gene is, for example, a gene encoding a protein that confers antibiotic resistance or that supplies an autotrophic requirement. Examples of useful expression vectors for prokaryotic host cells include those derived from commercially available plasmids such as the cloning vector pBR322 (ATCC 37017). pBR322 contains genes for ampicillin and tetracycline resistance and thus provides simple means for identifying transformed cells. An appropriate promoter and a DNA sequence are inserted into the pBR322 vector. Other commercially available vectors include, for example, pKK223-3 (Pharmacia Fine Chemicals, Uppsala, Sweden) and pGEM1 (Promega Biotec, Madison, Wis., USA).

Promoter sequences commonly used for recombinant prokaryotic host cell expression vectors include β-lactamase (penicillinase), lactose promoter system (Chang et al., Nature 275:615, 1978; and Goeddel et al., Nature 281:544, 1979), tryptophan (trp) promoter system (Goeddel et al., Nucl. Acids Res. 8:4057, 1980; and EP-A-36776) and tac promoter (Maniatis, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, p. 412, 1982). A particularly useful prokaryotic host cell expression system employs a phage λP_(L) promoter and a cI857ts thermolabile repressor sequence. Plasmid vectors available from the American Type Culture Collection which incorporate derivatives of the λP_(L) promoter include plasmid pHUB2 (resident in E. coli strain JMB9, ATCC 37092) and pPLc28 (resident in E. coli RR1, ATCC

Yeast Systems

Alternatively, the polypeptides may be expressed in yeast host cells, preferably from the Saccharomyces genus (e.g., S. cerevisiae). Other genera of yeast, such as Pichia or Kluyveromyces, may also be employed. Yeast vectors will often contain an origin of replication sequence from a 2μ yeast plasmid, an autonomously replicating sequence (ARS), a promoter region, sequences for polyadenylation, sequences for transcription termination, and a selectable marker gene. Suitable promoter sequences for yeast vectors include, among others, promoters for metallothionein, 3-phosphoglycerate kinase (Hitzeman et al., J. Biol. Chem. 255:2073, 1980) or other glycolytic enzymes (Hess et al., J. Adv. Enzyme Reg. 7:149, 1968; and Holland et al., Biochem. 17:4900, 1978), such as enolase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, hexokinase, pyruvate decarboxylase, phosphofructokinase, glucose-6-phosphate isomerase, 3-phosphoglycerate mutase, pyruvate kinase, triosephosphate isornerase, phospho-glucose isomerase, and glucokinase. Other suitable vectors and promoters for use in yeast expression are further described in Hitzeman, EPA-73,657. Another alternative is the glucose-repressible ADH2 promoter described by Russell et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 258:2674, 1982) and Beier et al. (Nature 300:724, 1982). Shuttle vectors replicable in both yeast and E. coli may be constructed by inserting DNA sequences from pBR322 for selection and replication in E. coli (Amp^(r) gene and origin of replication) into the above-described yeast vectors.

The yeast α-factor leader sequence may be employed to direct secretion of the polypeptide. The α-factor leader sequence is often inserted between the promoter sequence and the structural gene sequence. See, e.g., Kurjan et al., Cell 30:933, 1982 and Bitter et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81:5330, 1984. Other leader sequences suitable for facilitating secretion of recombinant polypeptides from yeast hosts are known to those of skill in the art. A leader sequence may be modified near its 3′ end to contain one or more restriction sites. This will facilitate fusion of the leader sequence to the structural gene.

Yeast transformation protocols are known to those of skill in the art. One such protocol is described by Hinnen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75:1929, 1978. The Hinnen et al. protocol selects for Trp⁺ transformants in a selective medium, wherein the selective medium consists of 0.67% yeast nitrogen base, 0.5% casamino acids, 2% glucose, 10 mg/ml adenine and 20 mg/ml uracil.

Yeast host cells transformed by vectors containing an ADH2 promoter sequence may be grown for inducing expression in a “rich” medium. An example of a rich medium is one consisting of 1% yeast extract, 2% peptone, and 1% glucose supplemented with 80 mg/ml adenine and 80 mg/ml uracil. Derepression of the ADH2 promoter occurs when glucose is exhausted from the medium.

Mammalian or Insect Systems

Mammalian or insect host cell culture systems also may be employed to express recombinant polypeptides. Bacculovirus systems for production of heterologous proteins in insect cells are reviewed by Luckow and Summers, Bio/Technology 6:47 (1988). Established cell lines of mammalian origin also may be employed. Examples of suitable mammalian host cell lines include the COS-7 line of monkey kidney cells (ATCC CRL 1651) (Gluzman et al., Cell 23:175, 1981), L cells, C127 cells, 3T3 cells (ATCC CCL 163), Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, HeLa cells, and BHK (ATCC CRL 10) cell lines, and the CV1/EBNA cell line derived from the African green monkey kidney cell line CV1 (ATCC CCL 70) as described by McMahan et al. (EMBO J. 10: 2821, 1991).

Established methods for introducing DNA into mammalian cells have been described (Kaufman, R. J., Large Scale Mammalian Cell Culture, 1990, pp. 15-69). Additional protocols using commercially available reagents, such as Lipofectamine lipid reagent (Gibco/BRL) or Lipofectamine-Plus lipid reagent, can be used to transfect cells (Felgner et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:7413-7417, 1987). In addition, electroporation can be used to transfect mammalian cells using conventional procedures, such as those in Sambrook et al. (Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2 ed. Vol. 1-3, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989). Selection of stable transformants can be performed using methods known in the art, such as, for example, resistance to cytotoxic drugs. Kaufman et al., Meth. in Enzymology 185:487-511, 1990, describes several selection schemes, such as dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) resistance. A suitable host strain for DHFR selection can be CHO strain DX-B11 which is deficient in DHFR (Urlaub and Chasin, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77:4216-4220, 1980). A plasmid expressing the DHFR cDNA can be introduced into strain DX-B11, and only cells that contain the plasmid can grow in the appropriate selective media. Other examples of selectable markers that can be incorporated into an expression vector include cDNAs conferring resistance to antibiotics, such as G418 and hygromycin B. Cells harboring the vector can be selected on the basis of resistance to these compounds.

Transcriptional and translational control sequences for mammalian host cell expression vectors can be excised from viral genomes. Commonly used promoter sequences and enhancer sequences are derived from polyoma virus, adenovirus 2, simian virus 40 (SV40), and human cytomegalovirus. DNA sequences derived from the SV40 viral genome, for example, SV40 origin, early and late promoter, enhancer, splice, and polyadenylation sites can be used to provide other genetic elements for expression of a structural gene sequence in a mammalian host cell. Viral early and late promoters are particularly useful because both are easily obtained from a viral genome as a fragment, which can also contain a viral origin of replication (Fiers et al., Nature 273:113, 1978; Kaufman, Meth. in Enzymology, 1990). Smaller or larger SV40 fragments can also be used, provided the approximately 250 bp sequence extending from the Hind III site toward the Bgl I site located in the SV40 viral origin of replication site is included.

Additional control sequences shown to improve expression of heterologous genes from mammalian expression vectors include such elements as the expression augmenting sequence element (EASE) derived from CHO cells (Morris et al., Animal Cell Technology, 1997, pp. 529-534 and PCT Application WO 97/25420) and the tripartite leader (TPL) and VA gene RNAs from Adenovirus 2 (Gingeras et al., J. Biol. Chem. 257:13475-13491, 1982). The internal ribosome entry site (IRES) sequences of viral origin allows dicistronic mRNAs to be translated efficiently (Oh and Sarnow, Current Opinion in Genetics and Development 3:295-300, 1993; Ramesh et al., Nucleic Acids Research 24:2697-2700, 1996). Expression of a heterologous cDNA as part of a dicistronic mRNA followed by the gene for a selectable marker (e.g. DHFR) has been shown to improve transfectability of the host and expression of the heterologous cDNA (Kaufman, Meth. in Enzymology, 1990). Exemplary expression vectors that employ dicistronic mRNAs are pTR-DC/GFP described by Mosser et al., Biotechniques 22:150-161, 1997, and p2A5I described by Morris et al., Animal Cell Technology, 1997, pp. 529-534.

A useful high expression vector, pCAVNOT, has been described by Mosley et al., Cell 59:335-348, 1989. Other expression vectors for use in mammalian host cells can be constructed as disclosed by Okayama and Berg (Mol. Cell. Biol. 3:280, 1983). A useful system for stable high level expression of mammalian cDNAs in C127 murine mammary epithelial cells can be constructed substantially as described by Cosman et al. (Mol. Immunol. 23:935, 1986). A useful high expression vector, PMLSV N1/N4, described by Cosman et al., Nature 312:768, 1984, has been deposited as ATCC 39890. Additional useful mammalian expression vectors are described in EP-A-0367566, and in WO 91/18982, incorporated by reference herein. In yet another alternative, the vectors can be derived from retroviruses.

Additional useful expression vectors, pFLAG® and pDC311, can also be used. FLAG® technology is centered on the fusion of a low molecular weight (1kD), hydrophilic, FLAG® marker peptide to the N-terminus of a recombinant protein expressed by pFLAG® expression vectors. pDC311 is another specialized vector used for expressing proteins in CHO cells. pDC311 is characterized by a bicistronic sequence containing the gene of interest and a dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene with an internal ribosome binding site for DHFR translation, an expression augmenting sequence element (EASE), the human CMV promoter, a tripartite leader sequence, and a polyadenylation site.

Regarding signal peptides that may be employed, the choice of signal peptide or leader may depend on factors such as the type of host cells in which the recombinant polypeptide is to be produced. To illustrate, examples of heterologous signal peptides that are functional in mammalian host cells include the signal sequence for interleukin-7 (IL-7) described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,195; the signal sequence for interleukin-2 receptor described in Cosman et al., Nature 312:768 (1984); the interleukin4 receptor signal peptide described in EP 367,566; the type I interleukin-1 receptor signal peptide described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,607; and the type II interleukin-1 receptor signal peptide described in EP 460,846.

Purification

The invention also includes methods of isolating and purifying the polypeptides and fragments thereof.

Isolation and Purification

The “isolated” polypeptides or fragments thereof encompassed by this invention are polypeptides or fragments that are not in an environment identical to an environment in which it or they can be found in nature. The “purified” polypeptides or fragments thereof encompassed by this invention are essentially free of association with other proteins or polypeptides, for example, as a purification product of recombinant expression systems such as those described above or as a purified product from a non-recombinant source such as naturally occurring cells and/or tissues.

In one preferred embodiment, the purification of recombinant polypeptides or fragments can be accomplished using fusions of polypeptides or fragments of the invention to another polypeptide to aid in the purification of polypeptides or fragments of the invention. Such fusion partners can include the poly-His or other antigenic identification peptides described above.

With respect to any type of host cell, as is known to the skilled artisan, procedures for purifying a recombinant polypeptide or fragment will vary according to such factors as the type of host cells employed and whether or not the recombinant polypeptide or fragment is secreted into the culture medium.

In general, the recombinant polypeptide or fragment can be isolated from the host cells if not secreted, or from the medium or supernatant if soluble and secreted, followed by one or more concentration, salting-out, ion exchange, hydrophobic interaction, affinity purification or size exclusion chromatography steps. As to specific ways to accomplish these steps, the culture medium first can be concentrated using a commercially available protein concentration filter, for example, an Amicon or Millipore Pellicon ultrafiltration unit. Following the concentration step, the concentrate can be applied to a purification matrix such as a gel filtration medium. Alternatively, an anion exchange resin can be employed, for example, a matrix or substrate having pendant diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) groups. The matrices can be acrylamide, agarose, dextran, cellulose or other types commonly employed in protein purification. Alternatively, a cation exchange step can be employed. Suitable cation exchangers include various insoluble matrices comprising sulfopropyl or carboxymethyl groups. In addition, a chromatofocusing step can be employed. Alternatively, a hydrophobic interaction chromatography step can be employed. Suitable matrices can be phenyl or octyl moieties bound to resins. In addition, affinity chromatography with a matrix which selectively binds the recombinant protein can be employed. Examples of such resins employed are lectin columns, dye columns, and metal-chelating columns. Finally, one or more reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) steps employing hydrophobic RP-HPLC media, (e.g., silica gel or polymer resin having pendant methyl, octyl, octyldecyl or other aliphatic groups) can be employed to further purify the polypeptides. Some or all of the foregoing purification steps, in various combinations, are well known and can be employed to provide an isolated and purified recombinant protein.

It is also possible to utilize an affinity column comprising a polypeptide-binding protein of the invention, such as a monoclonal antibody generated against polypeptides of the invention, to affinity-purify expressed polypeptides. These polypeptides can be removed from an affinity column using conventional techniques, e.g., in a high salt elution buffer and then dialyzed into a lower salt buffer for use or by changing pH or other components depending on the affinity matrix utilized, or be competitively removed using the naturally occurring substrate of the affinity moiety, such as a polypeptide derived from the invention.

In this aspect of the invention, polypeptide-binding proteins, such as the anti-polypeptide antibodies of the invention or other proteins that may interact with the polypeptide of the invention, can be bound to a solid phase support such as a column chromatography matrix or a similar substrate suitable for identifying, separating, or purifying cells that express polypeptides of the invention on their surface. Adherence of polypeptide-binding proteins of the invention to a solid phase contacting surface can be accomplished by any means, for example, magnetic microspheres can be coated with these polypeptide-binding proteins and held in the incubation vessel through a magnetic field. Suspensions of cell mixtures are contacted with the solid phase that has such polypeptide-binding proteins thereon. Cells having polypeptides of the invention on their surface bind to the fixed polypeptide-binding protein and unbound cells then are washed away. This affinity-binding method is useful for purifying, screening, or separating such polypeptide-expressing cells from solution. Methods of releasing positively selected cells from the solid phase are known in the art and encompass, for example, the use of enzymes. Such enzymes are preferably non-toxic and non-injurious to the cells and are preferably directed to cleaving the cell-surface binding partner.

Alternatively, mixtures of cells suspected of containing polypeptide-expressing cells of the invention first can be incubated with a biotinylated polypeptide-binding protein of the invention. Incubation periods are typically at least one hour in duration to ensure sufficient binding to polypeptides of the invention. The resulting mixture then is passed through a column packed with avidin-coated beads, whereby the high affinity of biotin for avidin provides the binding of the polypeptide-binding cells to the beads. Use of avidin-coated beads is known in the art. See Berenson, et al. J. Cell. Biochem., 10D:239 (1986). Wash of unbound material and the release of the bound cells is performed using conventional methods.

The desired degree of purity depends on the intended use of the protein. A relatively high degree of purity is desired when the polypeptide is to be administered in vivo, for example, In such a case, the polypeptides are purified such that no protein bands corresponding to other proteins are detectable upon analysis by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). It will be recognized by one skilled in the pertinent field that multiple bands corresponding to the polypeptide may be visualized by SDS-PAGE, due to differential glycosylation, differential post-translational processing, and the like. Most preferably, the polypeptide of the invention is purified to substantial homogeneity, as indicated by a single protein band upon analysis by SDS-PAGE. The protein band may be visualized by silver staining, Coomassie blue staining, or (if the protein is radiolabeled) by autoradiography.

Use of IKR Nucleic Acid of Oligonucleotides

In addition to being used to express polypeptides as described above, the nucleic acids of the invention, including DNA and oligonucleotides thereof, can be used as probes to identify other nucleic acids encoding proteins having kinsase activity.

Among the uses of nucleic acids of the invention is the use of fragments thereof as probes or primers to aid in the isolation of other proteins having kinase activity. Such fragments generally comprise at least about 17 contiguous nucleotides of a DNA sequence. In other embodiments, a DNA fragment comprises at least 30, or at least 60, contiguous nucleotides of a DNA sequence.

Because homologs of SEQ ID NOs:1 and 2, from other mammalian species are contemplated herein, probes based on the murine DNA sequence of SEQ ID NOs:1 and 2 may be used to screen cDNA libraries derived from other mammalian species, using conventional cross-species hybridization techniques.

Using knowledge of the genetic code in combination with the amino acid sequences set forth above, sets of degenerate oligonucleotides can be prepared. Such oligonucleotides are useful as primers, e.g., in polymerase chain reactions (PCR), whereby DNA fragments are isolated and amplified.

Use of IKR Polypeptides and Fragmented Polypeptides

Uses include, but are not limited to, the following:

Purifying proteins and measuring activity thereof

Research Reagents

Molecular weight and Isoelectric focusing markers

Controls for peptide fragmentation

Identification of unknown proteins

Preparation of Antibodies

Purification Reagents

Each of the polypeptides of the invention finds use as a protein purification reagent. For example, the polypeptides may be used to purify binding partner proteins, such as naturally occurring substrates or protein inhibitors, which bind specifically to the catalytic site of either IKR-1 or IKR-2. In addition, both IKR-1 and IKR-2 might also serve as substrates for other kinases in a kinase cascade, such as kinases that bind to and modulate the activity of or cellular localization of IKR-1 or IKR-2. Therefore they might be used to bind and facilitate purification of these other kinases and proteins.

In particular embodiments, a polypeptide (in any form described herein that is capable of binding a binding partner) is attached to a solid support by conventional procedures. As one example, affinity chromatography columns containing functional groups that will react with functional groups on amino acid side chains of proteins are available (Pharmacia Biotech, Inc., Piscataway, N.J.). In an alternative, a polypeptide/Fc protein (as discussed above) is attached to Protein A- or Protein G-containing chromatography columns through interaction with the Fc moiety.

Measuring Activity

Polypeptides also find use in measuring the biological activity of binding partner proteins in terms of their binding affinity. The polypeptides thus may be employed by those conducting “quality assurance” studies, e.g., to monitor shelf life and stability of protein under different conditions. For example, the polypeptides may be employed in a binding affinity study to measure the biological activity of a binding partner protein that has been stored at different temperatures, or produced in different cell types. The proteins also may be used to determine whether biological activity is retained after modification of a binding partner protein (e.g., chemical modification, truncation, mutation, etc.). The binding affinity of the modified binding partner protein is compared to that of an unmodified binding partner protein to detect any adverse impact of the modifications on biological activity of the binding partner. The biological activity of a binding partner protein thus can be ascertained before it is used in a research study, for example.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the polypeptides, fragments or fusion proteins thereof can be used to assay protein kinase activity.

Research Agents

Polypeptides of the invention may be used to set up screening assays to identify molecules from, for example, chemical libraries, combinatorial chemistry libraries, natural product libraries or other libraries of small organic molecules that inhibit or activate IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 activity. Such a small molecule antagonist or agonist could be useful in disrupting or enhancing molecular signaling to certain transcriptional activators.

Another embodiment of the invention is the use of isolated IKR-1 or IKR-2 polypeptides, fusion proteins, or a fragment thereof containing the isolated protein kinase domain of IKR-1 or IKR-2 in in vitro or in vivo assays to determine protein kinase activity. A hallmark of protein kinases is their ability to phosphorylate other proteins and to auto-phosphorylate. Therefore, in one aspect of the invention, the isolated polypeptides with kinase activity can be used in assays to phosphorylate target proteins, radiolabel target proteins with ³²p, and identify proteins having phosphatase activity. Exemplary methods of phosphorylation assays set forth above are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,860 which is incorporated herein by reference. In addition to full length polypeptides, the invention also includes the isolated active kinase domains of kinases which can function as reagents in kinase assays.

Kinase assays are typically carried out by combining IKR-1, IKR-2, or an active kinase domain with radiolabeled ATP (γ³²P-ATP) and a peptide or protein substrate in a buffer solution. The peptide substrates generally range from 8 to 30 amino acids in length or the substrate may also be a protein known to be phosphorylated readily by IKR-1 and/or IKR-2. Many such general kinase substrates are known, such as α or β casein, histone H1, myelin basic protein, etc. After incubation of this reaction mixture at 20-37° C. for a suitable time, the kinase-mediated transfer of radioactive phosphate from ATP to the substrate protein or substrate peptide can be determined by methods well known in the art.

The purpose of such an assay would be to identify substances which interfere with the rate of substrate phosphorylation. Such inhibitory substances could serve as lead compounds in the development of pharmaceuticals for the treatment of autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious or neoplastic diseases in which there is a disregulation of the inflammatory processes mediated by IKR-1 or IKR-2. It is conceivable that compounds which inhibit IKR-1 or IKR-2 could have merit as more general inhibitors of the class of protein kinases which mediate the inflammatory process, including (but not limited to) those mentioned above.

Yet another embodiment of the invention relates to the use of IKR polypeptides and fragments as reagents to identify (a) any protein that the polypeptide regulates, and (b) other proteins with which it might interact. Thus, IKR-1 and IKR-2 can be used to study, for example, cell signal transduction.

The IKRs, like other I kappa B kinases, could play a central role in immune responses which includes cellular signal transduction and inflammatory responses. As such, alterations in the expression and/or activation of IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 can have profound effects on a plethora of cellular processes. Expression of cloned IKR-1 and/or IKR-2, functionally inactive mutants of IKR-1 and/or IKR-2, or the kinase domain can be used to identify the role a particular protein plays in mediating specific signaling events.

Cellular signaling often involves a molecular activation cascade, during which a receptor propagates a ligand-receptor mediated signal by specifically activating intracellular kinases which phosphorylate target substrates, ultimately resulting in the activation of the transcription factor NFkB and/or other transcription factors. These substrates can themselves be kinases which become activated following phosphorylation. Alternatively, they can be adaptor molecules that facilitate down stream signaling through protein-protein interaction following phosphorylation. Regardless of the nature of the substrate molecule(s), expressed functionally-active versions of IKR-1 and/or IKR-2, for example the IKR kinase domain, can be used in assays such as the yeast 2-hybrid assay to identify what substrate(s) were recognized and altered by IKR-1 and/or IKR-2. As such, these novel IKR-1 or IKR-2 polypeptides can be used as reagents to identify novel molecules involved in signal transduction pathways. In addition, IKR-1, IKR-2, and other downstream molecules involved in the signal transduction pathway can be potential targets for therapeutic compounds that interfere with the activation of NF-κB.

Molecular Weight, Isoelectric Point Markers

The polypeptides of the present invention can be subjected to fragmentation into smaller peptides by chemical and enzymatic means, and the peptide fragments so produced can be used in the analysis of other proteins or polypeptides. For example, such peptide fragments can be used as peptide molecular weight markers, peptide isoelectric point markers, or in the analysis of the degree of peptide fragmentation. Thus, the invention also includes these polypeptides and peptide fragments, as well as kits to aid in the determination of the apparent molecular weight and isoelectric point of an unknown protein and kits to assess the degree of fragmentation of an unknown protein.

Although all methods of fragmentation are encompassed by the invention, chemical fragmentation is a preferred embodiment, and includes the use of cyanogen bromide to cleave under neutral or acidic conditions such that specific cleavage occurs at methionine residues (E. Gross, Methods in Enz. 11:238-255, 1967). This can further include additional steps, such as a carboxymethylation step to convert cysteine residues to an unreactive species.

Enzymatic fragmentation is another preferred embodiment, and includes the use of a protease such as Asparaginylendo-peptidase, Arginylendo-peptidase, Achromobacter protease I, Trypsin, Staphlococcus aureus V8 protease, Endoproteinase Asp-N, or Endoproteinase Lys-C under conventional conditions to result in cleavage at specific amino acid residues. Asparaginylendo-peptidase can cleave specifically on the carboxyl side of the asparagine residues present within the polypeptides of the invention. Arginylendo-peptidase can cleave specifically on the carboxyl side of the arginine residues present within these polypeptides. Achromobacter protease I can cleave specifically on the carboxyl side of the lysine residues present within the polypeptides (Sakiyama and Nakat, U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,599; T. Masaki et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 660:44-50, 1981; T. Masaki et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 660:51-55, 1981). Trypsin can cleave specifically on the carboxyl side of the arginine and lysine residues present within polypeptides of the invention. Enzymatic fragmentation may also occur with a protease that cleaves at multiple amino acid residues. For example, Staphlococcus aureus V8 protease can cleave specifically on the carboxyl side of the aspartic and glutamic acid residues present within polypeptides (D. W. Cleveland, J. Biol. Chem. 3:1102-1106, 1977). Endoproteinase Asp-N can cleave specifically on the amino side of the asparagine residues present within polypeptides. Endoproteinase Lys-C can cleave specifically on the carboxyl side of the lysine residues present within polypeptides of the invention. Other enzymatic and chemical treatments can likewise be used to specifically fragment these polypeptides into a unique set of specific peptides.

Of course, the peptides and fragments of the polypeptides of the invention can also be produced by conventional recombinant processes and synthetic processes well known in the art. With regard to recombinant processes, the polypeptides and peptide fragments encompassed by invention can have variable molecular weights, depending upon the host cell in which they are expressed.

The molecular weight of these polypeptides can also be varied by fusing additional peptide sequences to both the amino and carboxyl terminal ends of polypeptides of the invention. Fusions of additional peptide sequences at the amino and carboxyl terminal ends of polypeptides of the invention can be used to enhance expression of these polypeptides or aid in the purification of the protein. In addition, fusions of additional peptide sequences at the amino and carboxyl terminal ends of polypeptides of the invention will alter some, but usually not all, of the fragmented peptides of the polypeptides generated by enzymatic or chemical treatment. Of course, mutations can be introduced into polypeptides of the invention using routine and known techniques of molecular biology. For example, a mutation can be designed so as to eliminate a site of proteolytic cleavage by a specific enzyme or a site of cleavage by a specific chemically induced fragmentation procedure. The elimination of the site will alter the peptide fingerprint of polypeptides of the invention upon fragmentation with the specific enzyme or chemical procedure.

Because the unique amino acid sequence of each piece specifies a molecular weight, these pieces can thereafter serve as molecular weight markers using such analysis techniques to assist in the determination of the molecular weight of an unknown protein, polypeptides or fragments thereof. The molecular weight markers of the invention serve particularly welt as molecular weight markers for the estimation of the apparent molecular weight of proteins that have similar apparent molecular weights and, consequently, allow increased accuracy in the determination of apparent molecular weight of proteins.

When the invention relates to the use of fragmented peptide molecular weight markers, those markers are preferably at least 10 amino acids in size. More preferably, these fragmented peptide molecular weight markers are between 10 and 100 amino acids in size. Even more preferable are fragmented peptide molecular weight markers between 10 and 50 amino acids in size and especially between 10 and 35 amino acids in size. Most preferable are fragmented peptide molecular weight markers between 10 and 20 amino acids in size.

Among the methods for determining molecular weight are sedimentation, gel electrophoresis, chromatography, and mass spectrometry. A particularly preferred embodiment is denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (U. K. Laemmli, Nature 227:680-685, 1970). Conventionally, the method uses two separate lanes of a gel containing sodium dodecyl sulfate and a concentration of acrylamide between 6-20%. The ability to simultaneously resolve the marker and the sample under identical conditions allows for increased accuracy. It is understood, of course, that many different techniques can be used for the determination of the molecular weight of an unknown protein using polypeptides of the invention, and that this embodiment in no way limits the scope of the invention.

Each polypeptide or fragment thereof has a pI that is intrinsically determined by its unique amino acid sequence (which pI can be estimated by the skilled artisan using any of the computer programs designed to predict pI values currently available, calculated using any well-known known amino acid pKa table, or measured empirically). Therefore these polypeptides and fragments thereof can serve as specific markers to assist in the determination of the isoelectric point of an unknown protein, polypeptide, or fragmented peptide using techniques such as isoelectric focusing. These polypeptide or fragmented peptide markers serve particularly well for the estimation of apparent isoelectric points of unknown proteins that have apparent isoelectric points close to that of the polypeptide or fragmented peptide markers of the invention.

The technique of isoelectric focusing can be further combined with other techniques such as gel electrophoresis to simultaneously separate a protein on the basis of molecular weight and charge. The ability to simultaneously resolve these polypeptide or fragmented peptide markers and the unknown protein under identical conditions allows for increased accuracy in the determination of the apparent isoelectric point of the unknown protein. This is of particular interest in techniques, such as two dimensional electrophoresis (T. D. Brock and M. T. Madigan, Biology of Microorganisms 76-77 (Prentice Hall, 6d ed. 1991)), where the nature of the procedure dictates that any markers should be resolved simultaneously with the unknown protein. In addition, with such methods, these polypeptides and fragmented peptides thereof can assist in the determination of both the isoelectric point and molecular weight of an unknown protein or fragmented peptide.

Polypeptides and fragmented peptides can be visualized using two different methods that allow a discrimination between the unknown protein and the molecular weight markers. In one embodiment, the polypeptide and fragmented peptide molecular weight markers of the invention can be visualized using antibodies generated against these markers and conventional immunoblotting techniques. This detection is performed under conventional conditions that do not result in the detection of the unknown protein. It is understood that it may not be possible to generate antibodies against all polypeptide fragments of the invention, since small peptides may not contain immunogenic epitopes. It is further understood that not all antibodies will work in this assay; however, those antibodies which are able to bind polypeptides and fragments of the invention can be readily determined using conventional techniques.

The unknown protein is also visualized by using a conventional staining procedure. The molar excess of unknown protein to polypeptide or fragmented peptide molecular weight markers of the invention is such that the conventional staining procedure predominantly detects the unknown protein. The level of these polypeptide or fragmented peptide molecular weight markers is such as to allow little or no detection of these markers by the conventional staining method. The preferred molar excess of unknown protein to polypeptide molecular weight markers of the invention is between 2 and 100,000 fold. More preferably, the preferred molar excess of unknown protein to these polypeptide molecular weight markers is between 10 and 10,000 fold and especially between 100 and 1,000 fold.

It is understood of course that many techniques can be used for the determination and detection of molecular weight and isoelectric point of an unknown protein, polypeptides, and fragmented peptides thereof using these polypeptide molecular weight markers and peptide fragments thereof and that these embodiments in no way limit the scope of the invention.

In another embodiment, the analysis of the progressive fragmentation of the polypeptides of the invention into specific peptides (D. W. Cleveland et al., J. Biol. Chem. 252:1102-1106, 1977), such as by altering the time or temperature of the fragmentation reaction, can be used as a control for the extent of cleavage of an unknown protein. For example, cleavage of the same amount of polypeptide and unknown protein under identical conditions can allow for a direct comparison of the extent of fragmentation. Conditions that result in the complete fragmentation of the polypeptide can also result in complete fragmentation of the unknown protein.

As to the specific use of the polypeptides and fragmented peptides of the invention as molecular weight markers, the fragmentation of the polypeptide of SEQ ID NOs:3 and 4 with cyanogen bromide generates a unique set of fragmented peptide molecular weight markers with the molecular weights shown in Table I. The distribution of methionine residues determines the number of amino acids in each peptide and the unique amino acid composition of each peptide determines its molecular weight.

TABLE I Cleavage of IKR-1 and IKR-2 with cyanogen bromide Fragment # Residues Avg. MW IKR- 1  1 1-1  101.10  2 685-691  803.85  3 554-565  1564.85  4 670-684  1609.81  5 124-142  2165.45  6 670-691  2443.75  7 692-717  3030.49  8 685-717  3864.43  9  87-123  3975.47 10 235-271  4088.61 11 143-184  4761.19 12 185-234  5569.46 13 566-614  5751.57 14 385-441  6027.92 15 615-669  6032.69 16  87-142  6171.01 17 124-184  6956.73 18 554-614  7346.52 19 615-684  7672.59 20  2-86  9613.92 21 185-271  9688.16 22  1-86  9745.12 23 143-234 10360.74 24 566-669 11814.35 25 272-384 12699.43 26 442-553 12715.48 27  2-123 13619.48 28 442-565 14310.42 29 235-384 16818.13 30 272-441 18757.45 31 385-553 18773.50 IKR-2  1 1-1  101.10  2 687-690  372.42  3 621-623  385.47  4 691-697  857.02  5 663-673  993.13  6 720-729  1061.19  7 310-319  1162.36  8 687-697  1259.53  9 674-686  1373.52 10 674-690  1776.04 11 124-142  2165.45 12 663-686  2396.75 13 698-719  2438.73 14 415-439  2657.14 15 599-620  2717.95 16 599-623  3133.51 17 691-719  3325.84 18 698-729  3530.01 19 54-86  3960.69 20  87-123  3987.52 21 624-662  4679.24 22 143-184  4776.11 23 621-662  5094.80 24 440-486  5632.61 25 624-673  5702.47 26 185-234  5762.53 27  2-53  5796.60 28  1-53  5927.80 29  87-142  6183.06 30 124-184  6971.66 31  54-123  7978.30 32 235-309  8078.16 33 415-486  8319.85 34 235-319  9270.61 35  2-86  9787.38 36 143-234 10568.74 37 320-414 10981.47 38 310-414 12173.92 39 487-598 12852.49 40 320-439 13668.70 41 185-309 13870.79 42 487-620 15600.53 43 440-598 18515.20

In addition, the preferred purified polypeptides of the invention (SEQ ID NOs:3 and 4) have a calculated molecular weight of approximately 80,962 and 83,425 Daltons, respectively, and use thereof allows increased accuracy in the determination of apparent molecular weight of proteins that have apparent molecular weights close to 80,962 or 83,425 Daltons.

Finally, as to the kits that are encompassed by the invention, the constituents of such kits can be varied, but typically contain the polypeptide and fragmented peptide molecular weight markers. Also, such kits can contain the polypeptides wherein a site necessary for fragmentation has been removed. Furthermore, the kits can contain reagents for the specific cleavage of the polypeptide and the unknown protein by chemical or enzymatic cleavage. Kits can further contain antibodies directed against polypeptides or fragments thereof of the invention.

Identification of Unknown Proteins

As set forth above, a polypeptide or peptide fingerprint can be entered into or compared to a database of known proteins to assist in the identification of the unknown protein using mass spectrometry (W. J. Henzel et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:5011-5015, 1993; D. Fenyo et al., Electrophoresis 19:998-1005, 1998). A variety of computer software programs to facilitate these comparisons are accessible via the Internet, such as Protein Prospector (prospector.uscf.edu), Multildent (expasy.ch/sprot/multiident.html), PeptideSearch (mann.embl-heiedelberg.de/deSearch/FR_PeptideSearchForrn.html), and ProFound (chait-sgi.rockefeller.edu/cgi-bin/prot-id-frag.html). These programs allow the user to specify the cleavage agent and the molecular weights of the fragmented peptides within a designated tolerance. The programs compare observed molecular weights to predicted peptide molecular weights derived from sequence databases to assist in determining the identity of the unknown protein.

In addition, a polypeptide or peptide digest can be sequenced using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and the resulting sequence searched against databases (J. K. Eng, et al., J. Am. Soc. Mass Spec. 5:976-989 (1994); M. Mann and M. Wilm, Anal. Chem. 66:4390-4399 (1994); J. A. Taylor and R. S. Johnson, Rapid Comm. Mass Spec. 11: 1067-1075 (1997)). Searching programs that can be used in this process exist on the Internet, such as Lutefisk 97 (lsbc.com:70/Lutefisk97.html), and the Protein Prospector, Peptide Search and ProFound programs described above.

Therefore, adding the sequence of a gene and its predicted protein sequence and peptide fragments to a sequence database can aid in the identification of unknown proteins using mass spectrometry.

Antibodies

Antibodies that are immunoreactive with the polypeptides of the invention are provided herein. Such antibodies specifically bind to the polypeptides via the antigen-binding sites of the antibody (as opposed to non-specific binding). Thus, the polypeptides, fragments, variants, fusion proteins, etc., as set forth above may be employed as “immunogens” in producing antibodies immunoreactive therewith. More specifically, the polypeptides, fragment, variants, fusion proteins, etc. contain antigenic determinants or epitopes that elicit the formation of antibodies.

These antigenic determinants or epitopes can be either linear or conformational (discontinuous). Linear epitopes are composed of a single section of amino acids of the polypeptide, while conformational or discontinuous epitopes are composed of amino acids sections from different regions of the polypeptide chain that are brought into close proximity upon protein folding (C. A. Janeway, Jr. and P. Travers, Immuno Biology 3:9 (Garland Publishing Inc., 2nd ed. 1996)). Because folded proteins have complex surfaces, the number of epitopes available is quite numerous; however, due to the conformation of the protein and steric hinderances, the number of antibodies that actually bind to the epitopes is less than the number of available epitopes (C. A. Janeway, Jr. and P. Travers, Immuno Biology 2:14 (Garland Publishing Inc., 2nd ed. 1996)). Epitopes may be identified by any of the methods known in the art.

Thus, one aspect of the present invention relates to the antigenic epitopes of the polypeptides of the invention. Such epitopes are useful for raising antibodies, in particular monoclonal antibodies, as described in more detail below. Additionally, epitopes from the polypeptides of the invention can be used as research reagents, in assays, and to purify specific binding antibodies from substances such as polyclonal sera or supernatants from cultured hybridomas. Such epitopes or variants thereof can be produced using techniques well known in the art such as solid-phase synthesis, chemical or enzymatic cleavage of a polypeptide, or using recombinant DNA technology.

As to the antibodies that can be elicited by the epitopes of the polypeptides of the invention, whether the epitopes have been isolated or remain part of the polypeptides, both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies may be prepared by conventional techniques. See, for example, Monoclonal Antibodies, Hybridomas: A New Dimension in Biological Analyses, Kennet et al. (eds.), Plenum Press, New York (1980); and Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, Harlow and Land (eds.), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., (1988).

Hybridoma cell lines that produce monoclonal antibodies specific for the polypeptides of the invention are also contemplated herein. Such hybridomas may be produced and identified by conventional techniques. One method for producing such a hybridoma cell line comprises immunizing an animal with a polypeptide; harvesting spleen cells from the immunized animal; fusing said spleen cells to a myeloma cell line, thereby generating hybridoma cells; and identifying a hybridoma cell line that produces a monoclonal antibody that binds the polypeptide. The monoclonal antibodies may be recovered by conventional techniques.

The monoclonal antibodies of the present invention also include chimeric antibodies, e.g., humanized versions of murine monoclonal antibodies. Such humanized antibodies may be prepared by known techniques and offer the advantage of reduced immunogenicity when the antibodies are administered to humans. In one embodiment, a humanized monoclonal antibody comprises the variable region of a murine antibody (or just the antigen binding site thereof) and a constant region derived from a human antibody. Alternatively, a humanized antibody fragment may comprise the antigen binding site of a murine monoclonal antibody and a variable region fragment (lacking the antigen-binding site) derived from a human antibody. Procedures for the production of chimeric and further engineered monoclonal antibodies include those described in Riechmann et al. (Nature 332:323, 1988), Liu et al. (PNAS 84:3439, 1987), Larrick et al. (Bio/Technology 7:934, 1989), and Winter and Harris (TIPS 14:139, May, 1993). Procedures to generate antibodies transgenically can be found in GB 2,272,440, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,569,825 and 5,545,806 and related patents claiming priority therefrom, all of which are incorporated by reference herein.

Antigen-binding fragments of the antibodies, which may be produced by conventional techniques, are also encompassed by the present invention. Examples of such fragments include, but are not limited to, Fab and F(ab′)₂ fragments. Antibody fragments and derivatives produced by genetic engineering techniques are also provided.

In one embodiment, the antibodies are specific for the polypeptides of the present invention and do not cross-react with other proteins. Screening procedures by which such antibodies may be identified are well known, and may involve immunoaffinity chromatography, for example.

Uses Thereof

The antibodies of the invention can be used in assays to detect the presence of the polypeptides or fragments of the invention, either in vitro or in vivo. The antibodies also may be employed in purifying polypeptides or fragments of the invention by immunoaffinity chromatography.

Those antibodies that additionally can block binding of the polypeptides of the invention to the binding partner(s) may be used to inhibit a biological activity that results from such binding. Such blocking antibodies may be identified using any suitable assay procedure, such as by testing antibodies for the ability to inhibit binding of IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 to the binding partner(s). Alternatively, blocking antibodies may be identified in assays for the ability to inhibit a biological effect that results from binding of IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 to its binding partner(s).

Such an antibody may be employed in an in vitro procedure, or administered in vivo to inhibit a biological activity mediated by the entity that generated the antibody. Disorders caused or exacerbated (directly or indirectly) by the interaction of IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 with a binding partner thus may be treated. A therapeutic method involves in vivo administration of a blocking antibody in an intracellular form to a mammal in an amount effective in inhibiting an IKR-1 and/or IKR-2-mediated biological activity. Monoclonal antibodies are generally preferred for use in such therapeutic methods.

Antibodies may be screened for agonistic (i.e., ligand-mimicking) properties. Such antibodies, upon binding to IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 binding partner(s), induce biological effects (e.g., transduction of biological signals) similar to the biological effects induced when IKR-1 or IKR-2 binds to a binding partner.

Furthermore, antibodies may be used to specifically immunoprecipitate IKR-1 and /or IKR-2. Such immnunoprecipitates can be captured by procedures known in the art, such as binding to resin attached Protein A. The resultant resin bound complex can be utilized as a source of kinase for in vitro kinase ³²P phosphotransferase assays as described above.

Compositions comprising an antibody that is directed against IKR-1 and/or IKR-2, and a physiologically acceptable diluent, excipient, or carrier, are provided herein. Suitable components of such compositions are as described above for compositions containing IKR-1, IKR-2, IKR-1 binding partner proteins, or IKR-2 binding partner proteins.

Also provided herein are conjugates comprising a detectable (e.g., diagnostic) or therapeutic agent, attached to the antibody. Examples of such agents are presented above. The conjugates find use in in vitro or in vivo procedures.

The following examples are provided to further illustrate particular embodiments of the invention, and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention.

EXAMPLE 1 Isolation of the Nucleic Acid

The original cDNA clone from which the sequences are derived was obtained from a murine transit amplifying cell (TRAM) library that is maintained by Genesis. Independent clones for both IKR-1 and IKR-2 were obtained from the murine T-cell line bacteriophage library, EL46.1N7ZAP. In the case of IKR-1, three independent clones were isolated and required to obtain full length sequence, whereas a single full length IKR-2 clone was isolated. Full length sequences for the novel protein kinases IKR-1 (SEQ ID NO:1) and IKR-2 (SEQ ID NO:3) are shown above.

IKR-1 (SEQ ID NO:1) contains 5′ and 3′ untranslated sequence and the coding region consisting of nucleotides 369-2520, and IKR-2 (SEQ ID NO:3) also contains 5′ and 3′ untranslated sequence and the coding region consisting of nucleotides 212-2398. SEQ ID NOs:2 and 4 show translated full length open reading frames for IKR-1 and IKR-2, respectively.

EXAMPLE 2 Use of IKR Polypeptides in an ELISA

Serial dilutions of IKR-containing samples (in 50 mM NaHCO₃, brought to pH 9 with NaOH) are coated onto Linbro/Titertek 96 well flat bottom E.I.A. microtitration plates (ICN Biomedicals Inc., Aurora, Ohio) at 100:1/well. After incubation at 4° C. for 16 hours, the wells are washed six times with 200:1 PBS containing 0.05% Tween-20 (PBS-Tween). The wells are then incubated with FLAG®-IKR binding partner at 1 μg/ml in PBS-Tween with 5% fetal calf serum (FCS) for 90 minutes (100:1 per well), followed by washing as above. Next, each well is incubated with the anti-FLAG® (monoclonal antibody M2 at 1 μg/ml in PBS-Tween containing 5% FCS for 90 minutes (100:1 per well), followed by washing as above. Subsequently, wells are incubated with a polyclonal goat anti-mIgG1-specific horseradish peroxidase-conjugated antibody (a 1:5000 dilution of the commercial stock in PBS-Tween containing 5% FCS) for 90 minutes (100:1 per well). The HRP-conjugated antibody is obtained from Southern Biotechnology Associates, Inc., Birmingham, Ala. Wells then are washed six times, as above.

For development of the ELISA, a substrate mix [100:1 per well of a 1:1 premix of the TMB Peroxidase Substrate and Peroxidase Solution B (Kirkegaard Perry Laboratories, Gaithersburg, Md.)] is added to the wells. After sufficient color reaction, the enzymatic reaction is terminated by addition of 2 N H₂SO₄ (50:1 per well). Color intensity (indicating IKR-1 and/or IKR-2-binding activity) is determined by measuring extinction at 450 nm on a V Max plate reader (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, Calif.).

EXAMPLE 3 Monoclonal Antibodies That Bind

This example illustrates a method for preparing monoclonal antibodies that bind IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 polypeptides. Suitable immunogens that may be employed in generating such antibodies include, but are not limited to, purified IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 polypeptides or an immunogenic fragment thereof.

Purified IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 can be used to generate monoclonal antibodies immunoreactive therewith, using conventional techniques such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,993. Briefly, mice are immunized with IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 immunogen emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant, and injected in amounts ranging from 10-100 :g subcutaneously or intraperitoneally. Ten to twelve days later, the immunized animals are boosted with additional IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 emulsified in incomplete Freund's adjuvant. Mice are periodically boosted thereafter on a weekly to bi-weekly immunization schedule. Serum samples are periodically taken by retro-orbital bleeding or tail-tip excision to test for IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 antibodies by dot blot assay, ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay), inhibition of IKR-1 and/or IKR-2-binding partner binding, or inhibition of kinase catalytic activity.

Following detection of an appropriate antibody titer, positive animals are provided one last intravenous injection of IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 in saline. Three to four days later, the animals are sacrificed, spleen cells harvested, and spleen cells are fused to a murine myeloma cell line, e.g., NS1 or preferably P3×63Ag8.653 (ATCC CRL 1580). Fusions generate hybridoma cells, which are plated in multiple microtiter plates in a HAT (hypoxanthine, aminopterin and thymidine) selective medium to inhibit proliferation of non-fused cells, myeloma hybrids, and spleen cell hybrids.

The hybridoma cells are screened by ELISA for reactivity against purified IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 by adaptations of the techniques disclosed in Engvall et al., Immunochem. 8:871, 1971 and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,004. A preferred screening technique is the antibody capture technique described in Beckmann et al., (J. Immunol. 144:4212, 1990) Positive hybridoma cells can be injected intraperitoneally into syngeneic BALB/c mice to produce ascites containing high concentrations of anti-IKR-1 and/or IKR-2 monoclonal antibodies. Alternatively, hybridoma cells can be grown in vitro in flasks or roller bottles by various techniques. Monoclonal antibodies produced in mouse ascites can be purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, followed by gel exclusion chromatography. Alternatively, affinity chromatography based upon binding of antibody to Protein A or Protein G can also be used, as can affinity chromatography based upon binding to IKR-1 and/or IKR-2.

EXAMPLE 4 Northern Blot Analysis

The tissue distribution of IKR-1 and IKR-2 mRNA can be investigated by Northern blot analysis, as follows. An aliquot of a radiolabeled probe (³²P-labeled PCR product derived from IKR-1 or IKR-2 specific oligonucleotide primers) is added to murine and human multiple tissue Northern blots (Clontech, Palo Alto, Calif.; Biochain, Palo Alto, Calif.). Hybridization is conducted per the manufacturer's (Clontech) protocol using their Express Hyb hybridization solution. A glycerol-aldehyde-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) specific probe can be used to standardize for RNA loadings.

Northern blot analysis and cDNA library screens suggest that both IKR-1 and IKR-2 are widely expressed.

EXAMPLE 5 Measuring Kinase Activity of IKR-1 and IKR-2

Isolated IKR-1 or IKR-2 polypeptide or fusion proteins containing the isolated protein kinase domain of IKR-1 or IKR-2 can be used in an assay of protein kinase activity. Typically this would be carried out by combining IKR-1 or IKR-2 with radiolabeled ATP (γ³²P-ATP) and a magnesium salt in buffer solution containing a peptide or protein substrate. The peptide substrates are generally from 8-30 amino acids in length and may terminate at the N- or C-terminus with three or more lysine or arginine residues to facilitate binding of the peptide to phosphocellulose paper. The substrate may also be a protein known to be phosphorylated readily by IKR-1 and/or IKR-2. Many such general kinase substrates are known, e.g., α or β casein, histone H1, myelin basic protein, etc. After incubation of this reaction mixture at 20-37° C. for a suitable time, the transfer of radioactive phosphate from ATP to the substrate protein or substrate peptide may be monitored, by spotting of the reaction mixture onto phosphocellulose paper, and subsequent washing of the paper with a dilute solution of phosphoric acid, in the case of a peptide substrate, or by application of the reaction products to a gel electrophoresis system followed by autoradiographic detection in the case of proteins. Other methods well known in the art are available to conveniently measure the IKR-1 and/or IKR-2-mediated transfer of phosphate to substrate proteins, such as the scintillation proximity assay.

The specification is most thoroughly understood in light of the teachings of the references cited within the specification which are hereby incorporated by reference. The embodiments within the specification provide an illustration of embodiments of the invention and should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention. The skilled artisan readily recognizes that many other embodiments are encompassed by the invention.

4 1 3385 DNA murine 1 cacaggaaac agctatgacc atgattacgc caagctcgaa attaaccctc actaaaggga 60 acaaaagctg gagctccacc gcggtggcgg ccgctctaga actagtggat cccccgggct 120 gcaggaattc cggcctggga ctgggtaccc cactgctctc agagaggcag gaaagagacc 180 ttcaggctca agaccatcac ctgctttgcc tgtggatcct ggggggcccc atagctacca 240 ggatcttcta ggcactgccc aggattgact tcaaggcctg aatccctggg ggtgccaccc 300 agttccacaa gtctgcattg ccctgcaact gagataggag atggggaaga agatagccaa 360 gcccaggaga tgcagagtac cactaactac ctgtggcata ctgatgacct gctagggcag 420 ggggccactg ccagtgtgta caaggcccga aacaagaaat ccggggaggt ggttgctgta 480 aaggtcttca actcagccag ctatcggcga cctcctgagg ttcaggtgag ggagtttgag 540 gtcctgcgga ggctgaatca ccagaacatc gtgaagctat tcgcagtgga ggaaacggga 600 ggcagccggc agaaggtgct aatcatggag tactgctcca gtgggagcct gctgagcgtg 660 ctggaagacc ctgagaacac gttcgggctt tctgaagagg agttcctagt ggtgctgcgc 720 tgtgtggtgg ctggcatgaa ccacctgcgg gagaatggca ttgtccatcg ggacatcaaa 780 cctgggaaca tcatgcgcct ggtgggcgag gaggggcaga gcatctataa gctgtctgac 840 ttcggggctg cccgcaagct ggacgatgat gagaagtttg tttctgtcta tggtacagag 900 gaatacctgc accctgacat gtatgagcgt gcagtgctgc gcaaacccca gcaaaaggca 960 tttggtgtga ctgtggatct ctggagtatt ggggtgaccc tgtaccacgc agccacaggc 1020 agtctgccct tcatcccctt cggtgggccc cggcgcaaca aagagatcat gtacagaatc 1080 accacagaga agccagccgg ggccatttca gggactcaga agcacgaaaa tggtcccttg 1140 gagtggagct acagcctccc catcacctgt agactgtcca tgggactgca gaaccagctg 1200 gtgcccatcc tggccaacat cctggaggtg gaagaggata agtgctgggg ctttgatcag 1260 ttcttcgcgg agaccagtga cattctgcag cgaacggtca tccacgtctt ttccctaccc 1320 caggccgttt tgcatcatgt ctacatccac gcccacaaca cgattgccat ctttttggag 1380 gctgtatatg agcagaccaa cgtgaccccc aaacaccagg agtacctctt cgagggtcac 1440 ccttgtgtcc ttgagccaag cctctcagcc cagcacatcg cccacacagc tgccagcagc 1500 cctctaactc tgttcagcat gtccagcgac acacctaagg ggctggcctt cagggaccct 1560 gctctggatg tcccaaagtt cgtccctaag gttgacctac aggccgatta cagcacagct 1620 aagggggtgc tgggcgctgg ctaccaggcc ctgtggctgg cgcgggtcct gctggatgga 1680 caggcgttga tgcttcgggg gttacattgg gtcctggagg tgcttcagga cacgtgccag 1740 cagacactgg aggtcacacg gacagccctc ctctacctca gcagcagcct gggcactgaa 1800 aggttcagca gtggagcggg gatgcctgac gtccaggaac gaaaggaggc cacagagcta 1860 agaaccaggc tgcagactct ctcagagatc ctgtctaaat gttcccacaa tgtcacagaa 1920 acccaaagga gcctgagctg tctgggtgaa gagcttttaa agaaccggga ccagattcat 1980 gaggataaca aaagtatcca gaagattcag tgttgtttgg acaagatgca cttcatctac 2040 aaacagttca agaaatccag gatgaggcca gggctcagct acaatgagga gcagatccac 2100 aagctggata aggtaaattt cagtcatcta gccaagaggc tgctgcaggt gttccaggag 2160 gagtgtgtgc agacgtatca ggtgtcgctg gtcacacacg gcaagcggat gaggcaggtg 2220 cagagggccc agaaccacct gcatctcatt ggccactctg tggccacctg taactcggaa 2280 gcccggggag cccaggagag tctgaacaag atctttgatc agctccttct ggacagagct 2340 tccgaacagg gagctgaggt gtcaccgcaa cctatggctc ctcatcccgg ccctgatccg 2400 aaggacctgg tcttccacat gcaggagctt tgtaatgata tgaagctatt ggcctttgat 2460 ctccaggaca acaaccgact catcgaacgg ttacatagag ttccatcggc accagatgtc 2520 tgagctccct gggggttcac aaggcactca gaagcaatag aaacattcat attgtacccc 2580 tacactgtga gaccaaattc agggcaagtt ctggttccat ctcactagcc tacctccctc 2640 ttggccattg gccattggcc aacaaactag cattactttg actgtcctct tgggaagcag 2700 ctaggacagg gactcctggc catcccaggc agtatctaca gaagagacca tgcggctacc 2760 acagccttat caagacacca agactgttct tcctcaccca ggctctggag gtctggtctt 2820 ggaaagaaaa ggctcagccc tctcacgctc tgcacttccc aggaccagca ggcgtctcct 2880 gtggcttctc ctgcctctcc agggtgctgg atcagaatgc ttattcttgg ttgtttcctg 2940 tgctgcttcc tgagtgtccc catccctggc ctcaggcaac ccacaaacgg cccctctgtg 3000 cttggtctag atgcacctgc atttgagaaa gtgggtggtt gaggctaact gctggtgctt 3060 tgaggattct ccttgacctt ttctccgagg aacgcttggt tctaagaaac agctggtcag 3120 tatcaaccac agccatgcta actggacaga tgttggaacc caaagtccta aggagagagc 3180 aggcctgcac cttcagacat ggaataaata catcgccttt tctgtttaaa aaaaaaaaaa 3240 aaaaaccgga attcgatatc aagcttatcg ataccgtcga cctcgagggg gggcccggta 3300 cccaattcgc cctatagtga gtcgtattac aattcactgg ccgtcgtttt acaacgtcgt 3360 gactgggaaa accctggcgt taccc 3385 2 717 PRT murine 2 Met Gln Ser Thr Thr Asn Tyr Leu Trp His Thr Asp Asp Leu Leu Gly 1 5 10 15 Gln Gly Ala Thr Ala Ser Val Tyr Lys Ala Arg Asn Lys Lys Ser Gly 20 25 30 Glu Val Val Ala Val Lys Val Phe Asn Ser Ala Ser Tyr Arg Arg Pro 35 40 45 Pro Glu Val Gln Val Arg Glu Phe Glu Val Leu Arg Arg Leu Asn His 50 55 60 Gln Asn Ile Val Lys Leu Phe Ala Val Glu Glu Thr Gly Gly Ser Arg 65 70 75 80 Gln Lys Val Leu Ile Met Glu Tyr Cys Ser Ser Gly Ser Leu Leu Ser 85 90 95 Val Leu Glu Asp Pro Glu Asn Thr Phe Gly Leu Ser Glu Glu Glu Phe 100 105 110 Leu Val Val Leu Arg Cys Val Val Ala Gly Met Asn His Leu Arg Glu 115 120 125 Asn Gly Ile Val His Arg Asp Ile Lys Pro Gly Asn Ile Met Arg Leu 130 135 140 Val Gly Glu Glu Gly Gln Ser Ile Tyr Lys Leu Ser Asp Phe Gly Ala 145 150 155 160 Ala Arg Lys Leu Asp Asp Asp Glu Lys Phe Val Ser Val Tyr Gly Thr 165 170 175 Glu Glu Tyr Leu His Pro Asp Met Tyr Glu Arg Ala Val Leu Arg Lys 180 185 190 Pro Gln Gln Lys Ala Phe Gly Val Thr Val Asp Leu Trp Ser Ile Gly 195 200 205 Val Thr Leu Tyr His Ala Ala Thr Gly Ser Leu Pro Phe Ile Pro Phe 210 215 220 Gly Gly Pro Arg Arg Asn Lys Glu Ile Met Tyr Arg Ile Thr Thr Glu 225 230 235 240 Lys Pro Ala Gly Ala Ile Ser Gly Thr Gln Lys His Glu Asn Gly Pro 245 250 255 Leu Glu Trp Ser Tyr Ser Leu Pro Ile Thr Cys Arg Leu Ser Met Gly 260 265 270 Leu Gln Asn Gln Leu Val Pro Ile Leu Ala Asn Ile Leu Glu Val Glu 275 280 285 Glu Asp Lys Cys Trp Gly Phe Asp Gln Phe Phe Ala Glu Thr Ser Asp 290 295 300 Ile Leu Gln Arg Thr Val Ile His Val Phe Ser Leu Pro Gln Ala Val 305 310 315 320 Leu His His Val Tyr Ile His Ala His Asn Thr Ile Ala Ile Phe Leu 325 330 335 Glu Ala Val Tyr Glu Gln Thr Asn Val Thr Pro Lys His Gln Glu Tyr 340 345 350 Leu Phe Glu Gly His Pro Cys Val Leu Glu Pro Ser Leu Ser Ala Gln 355 360 365 His Ile Ala His Thr Ala Ala Ser Ser Pro Leu Thr Leu Phe Ser Met 370 375 380 Ser Ser Asp Thr Pro Lys Gly Leu Ala Phe Arg Asp Pro Ala Leu Asp 385 390 395 400 Val Pro Lys Phe Val Pro Lys Val Asp Leu Gln Ala Asp Tyr Ser Thr 405 410 415 Ala Lys Gly Val Leu Gly Ala Gly Tyr Gln Ala Leu Trp Leu Ala Arg 420 425 430 Val Leu Leu Asp Gly Gln Ala Leu Met Leu Arg Gly Leu His Trp Val 435 440 445 Leu Glu Val Leu Gln Asp Thr Cys Gln Gln Thr Leu Glu Val Thr Arg 450 455 460 Thr Ala Leu Leu Tyr Leu Ser Ser Ser Leu Gly Thr Glu Arg Phe Ser 465 470 475 480 Ser Gly Ala Gly Met Pro Asp Val Gln Glu Arg Lys Glu Ala Thr Glu 485 490 495 Leu Arg Thr Arg Leu Gln Thr Leu Ser Glu Ile Leu Ser Lys Cys Ser 500 505 510 His Asn Val Thr Glu Thr Gln Arg Ser Leu Ser Cys Leu Gly Glu Glu 515 520 525 Leu Leu Lys Asn Arg Asp Gln Ile His Glu Asp Asn Lys Ser Ile Gln 530 535 540 Lys Ile Gln Cys Cys Leu Asp Lys Met His Phe Ile Tyr Lys Gln Phe 545 550 555 560 Lys Lys Ser Arg Met Arg Pro Gly Leu Ser Tyr Asn Glu Glu Gln Ile 565 570 575 His Lys Leu Asp Lys Val Asn Phe Ser His Leu Ala Lys Arg Leu Leu 580 585 590 Gln Val Phe Gln Glu Glu Cys Val Gln Thr Tyr Gln Val Ser Leu Val 595 600 605 Thr His Gly Lys Arg Met Arg Gln Val Gln Arg Ala Gln Asn His Leu 610 615 620 His Leu Ile Gly His Ser Val Ala Thr Cys Asn Ser Glu Ala Arg Gly 625 630 635 640 Ala Gln Glu Ser Leu Asn Lys Ile Phe Asp Gln Leu Leu Leu Asp Arg 645 650 655 Ala Ser Glu Gln Gly Ala Glu Val Ser Pro Gln Pro Met Ala Pro His 660 665 670 Pro Gly Pro Asp Pro Lys Asp Leu Val Phe His Met Gln Glu Leu Cys 675 680 685 Asn Asp Met Lys Leu Leu Ala Phe Asp Leu Gln Asp Asn Asn Arg Leu 690 695 700 Ile Glu Arg Leu His Arg Val Pro Ser Ala Pro Asp Val 705 710 715 3 3219 DNA murine 3 ttgggtaacg ccagggtttt cccagtcacg acgttgtaaa acgacggcca gtgaattgta 60 atacgactca ctatagggcg aattgggtac cgggcccccc ctcgaggtcg acggtatcga 120 taagcttgat atcgaattcc ggcactcgcg ggcatacatg caaatctctt cttccccctt 180 atcgtgagga gaagcgcctg gacaagccga gatgcagagc acctccaacc atctgtggct 240 cctgtctgat atcctaggcc agggggccac tgcaaatgtc ttccgaggaa ggcataagaa 300 aactggtgat ctctatgctg tcaaagtatt taataacata agcttccttc gcccagtgga 360 tgttcaaatg agagaatttg aagtgttaaa aaaactcaat cacaaaaaca ttgtcaagtt 420 atttgctatt gaagaggaga caacaacaag acataaagtg cttattatgg agttttgtcc 480 ctgtgggagt ttatacactg ttctagagga gccgtccaat gcgtatggac ttccagaatc 540 agaatttctc attgtcttac gagatgtggt gggcgggatg aatcatctcc gagagaacgg 600 catagtgcac cgagatatca agccaggcaa catcatgcgc gtcatagggg aggacggcca 660 gtctgtgtac aaactcacgg atttcggcgc cgctcgagag ctggaggacg atgagcagtt 720 tgtgtctctg tacggcacag aagagtacct gcatccggac atgtatgaaa gggcagtgct 780 aagaaaggac catcagaaga agtacggggc taccgttgat ctgtggagtg ttggagtgac 840 attctaccat gcagccacgg ggtcgctgcc gtttagaccc ttcgaggggc ctcggaggaa 900 caaagaagta atgtataaaa taatcactgg gaagccgtct ggtgcaatat ctggagtaca 960 gaaagcagaa aacggaccaa ttgactggag tggagacatg cctctctcct gtagtctttc 1020 tcagggtctt caggcactgc ttaccccagt tcttgcaaac atacttgaag ctgatcagga 1080 gaagtgctgg ggttttgacc agttctttgc agagaccagt gatgtgcttc accgaatggt 1140 gatccatgtc ttctcgctac aacacatgac ggcgcataag atttacattc acagctataa 1200 cactgctgct gtgttccatg aactggtcta taaacaaacc aagattgttt cctcaaatca 1260 agaacttatc tacgaaggac gacgcttagt cctagaactc ggacgactag cccagcattt 1320 tcctaaaacc acagaggaaa atcctatctt tgtcacgagc cgggaacaac tcaataccgt 1380 aggactgaga tatgaaaaaa tttccctccc taaaatacat ccacgctatg atctggatgg 1440 ggacgccagc atggccaagg cagtgacggg ggttgtgtgc tacgcctgca gaactgccag 1500 taccctgctg ctctatcaag aattaatgcg aaagggggta cggtggctgg ttgaactggt 1560 taaggatgat tacaacgaga ccgtccacaa gaagacggag gtagtgatca cactggattt 1620 ctgcatcagg aacattgaga agactgtgaa agtgtatgag aagttgatga aggtcaacct 1680 ggaagccgca gagctgggtg agatttcaga catacacacc aagctgctga gactttccag 1740 ttctcaggga acaatagaaa gcagtcttca ggacatcagc agcaggctgt ctccaggggg 1800 cttgctggcc gacacctggg cacatcaaga aggcacgcat ccaagagaca ggaatgtaga 1860 aaaactgcag gtcctgttga actgcatcac agagatttac tatcagttca aaaaagacaa 1920 agcagaacgc agactagctt ataatgaaga acagatccac aaatttgata agcaaaaatt 1980 gtattaccat gccacaaaag caatgagcca cttctcagaa gaatgtgtta gaaagtatga 2040 agcgtttaaa gataagtcgg aagagtggat gagaaagatg cttcatctta ggaagcagct 2100 gttatcgcta actaatcagt gtttcgatat cgaagaggaa gtgtccaagt atcaagacta 2160 tactaacgag ttacaagaaa ctctgcctca gaaaatgctc gcagcctccg gcggcgtcaa 2220 gcacgccatg gccccgatct accccagctc taacacctta gtggagatga ctcttggtat 2280 gaagaagtta aaggaggaga tggaaggcgt ggttaaggag ctggccgaga acaatcatat 2340 tttagaaagg tttgggtctt taacaatgga tggtggcctt cgcaatgtgg actgtcttta 2400 gcttcctagg gagtctggga agttctagtt tgcacaagaa gataacactg gggcacgaaa 2460 tgaacacctt tgtgaatgga gttcttattt ctacacttca gtatttgatg aggtcatgta 2520 aatatgtaca gtttgtaaat acatatacat atatatatat atatatgaat tttggctgct 2580 gtaacaaaga cagattgacc tcagcgagct gtagaagaaa gccatgacca gccagtgctt 2640 tggggtgctc tccctaattc ttcacataag gctggagaaa tcaattgctt ggtgcctaaa 2700 gaaagtattt tttgaattgg cattcttaaa attttgaaag gactgatagt cgacacagtg 2760 taactggagg agacacaggg ctttgtgacg ggaacagaac cgcggtttaa ccacagtcgg 2820 ttccctgaca aggataaagt ggcattatct catttgaccg ggtgcccaaa tctcagtttt 2880 cctcggatgt ttgattttag gtgaattatt gagcaaaaac tttaaagtga attcattgtt 2940 taaactattc atttttcctt tggtcatgaa tgtgtaattg tcattcagat cctagtatca 3000 tttcaattgt cttaagatgt atatttctgt actttaattc tgctatttca tgaaaaaata 3060 aatttctccc ggaattcctg cagcccgggg gatccactag ttctagagcg gccgccaccg 3120 cggtggagct ccagcttttg ttccctttag tgagggttaa tttcgagctt ggcgtaatca 3180 tggtcatagc tgtttcctgt gtgaaattgt tatccgctc 3219 4 729 PRT murine 4 Met Gln Ser Thr Ser Asn His Leu Trp Leu Leu Ser Asp Ile Leu Gly 1 5 10 15 Gln Gly Ala Thr Ala Asn Val Phe Arg Gly Arg His Lys Lys Thr Gly 20 25 30 Asp Leu Tyr Ala Val Lys Val Phe Asn Asn Ile Ser Phe Leu Arg Pro 35 40 45 Val Asp Val Gln Met Arg Glu Phe Glu Val Leu Lys Lys Leu Asn His 50 55 60 Lys Asn Ile Val Lys Leu Phe Ala Ile Glu Glu Glu Thr Thr Thr Arg 65 70 75 80 His Lys Val Leu Ile Met Glu Phe Cys Pro Cys Gly Ser Leu Tyr Thr 85 90 95 Val Leu Glu Glu Pro Ser Asn Ala Tyr Gly Leu Pro Glu Ser Glu Phe 100 105 110 Leu Ile Val Leu Arg Asp Val Val Gly Gly Met Asn His Leu Arg Glu 115 120 125 Asn Gly Ile Val His Arg Asp Ile Lys Pro Gly Asn Ile Met Arg Val 130 135 140 Ile Gly Glu Asp Gly Gln Ser Val Tyr Lys Leu Thr Asp Phe Gly Ala 145 150 155 160 Ala Arg Glu Leu Glu Asp Asp Glu Gln Phe Val Ser Leu Tyr Gly Thr 165 170 175 Glu Glu Tyr Leu His Pro Asp Met Tyr Glu Arg Ala Val Leu Arg Lys 180 185 190 Asp His Gln Lys Lys Tyr Gly Ala Thr Val Asp Leu Trp Ser Val Gly 195 200 205 Val Thr Phe Tyr His Ala Ala Thr Gly Ser Leu Pro Phe Arg Pro Phe 210 215 220 Glu Gly Pro Arg Arg Asn Lys Glu Val Met Tyr Lys Ile Ile Thr Gly 225 230 235 240 Lys Pro Ser Gly Ala Ile Ser Gly Val Gln Lys Ala Glu Asn Gly Pro 245 250 255 Ile Asp Trp Ser Gly Asp Met Pro Leu Ser Cys Ser Leu Ser Gln Gly 260 265 270 Leu Gln Ala Leu Leu Thr Pro Val Leu Ala Asn Ile Leu Glu Ala Asp 275 280 285 Gln Glu Lys Cys Trp Gly Phe Asp Gln Phe Phe Ala Glu Thr Ser Asp 290 295 300 Val Leu His Arg Met Val Ile His Val Phe Ser Leu Gln His Met Thr 305 310 315 320 Ala His Lys Ile Tyr Ile His Ser Tyr Asn Thr Ala Ala Val Phe His 325 330 335 Glu Leu Val Tyr Lys Gln Thr Lys Ile Val Ser Ser Asn Gln Glu Leu 340 345 350 Ile Tyr Glu Gly Arg Arg Leu Val Leu Glu Leu Gly Arg Leu Ala Gln 355 360 365 His Phe Pro Lys Thr Thr Glu Glu Asn Pro Ile Phe Val Thr Ser Arg 370 375 380 Glu Gln Leu Asn Thr Val Gly Leu Arg Tyr Glu Lys Ile Ser Leu Pro 385 390 395 400 Lys Ile His Pro Arg Tyr Asp Leu Asp Gly Asp Ala Ser Met Ala Lys 405 410 415 Ala Val Thr Gly Val Val Cys Tyr Ala Cys Arg Thr Ala Ser Thr Leu 420 425 430 Leu Leu Tyr Gln Glu Leu Met Arg Lys Gly Val Arg Trp Leu Val Glu 435 440 445 Leu Val Lys Asp Asp Tyr Asn Glu Thr Val His Lys Lys Thr Glu Val 450 455 460 Val Ile Thr Leu Asp Phe Cys Ile Arg Asn Ile Glu Lys Thr Val Lys 465 470 475 480 Val Tyr Glu Lys Leu Met Lys Val Asn Leu Glu Ala Ala Glu Leu Gly 485 490 495 Glu Ile Ser Asp Ile His Thr Lys Leu Leu Arg Leu Ser Ser Ser Gln 500 505 510 Gly Thr Ile Glu Ser Ser Leu Gln Asp Ile Ser Ser Arg Leu Ser Pro 515 520 525 Gly Gly Leu Leu Ala Asp Thr Trp Ala His Gln Glu Gly Thr His Pro 530 535 540 Arg Asp Arg Asn Val Glu Lys Leu Gln Val Leu Leu Asn Cys Ile Thr 545 550 555 560 Glu Ile Tyr Tyr Gln Phe Lys Lys Asp Lys Ala Glu Arg Arg Leu Ala 565 570 575 Tyr Asn Glu Glu Gln Ile His Lys Phe Asp Lys Gln Lys Leu Tyr Tyr 580 585 590 His Ala Thr Lys Ala Met Ser His Phe Ser Glu Glu Cys Val Arg Lys 595 600 605 Tyr Glu Ala Phe Lys Asp Lys Ser Glu Glu Trp Met Arg Lys Met Leu 610 615 620 His Leu Arg Lys Gln Leu Leu Ser Leu Thr Asn Gln Cys Phe Asp Ile 625 630 635 640 Glu Glu Glu Val Ser Lys Tyr Gln Asp Tyr Thr Asn Glu Leu Gln Glu 645 650 655 Thr Leu Pro Gln Lys Met Leu Ala Ala Ser Gly Gly Val Lys His Ala 660 665 670 Met Ala Pro Ile Tyr Pro Ser Ser Asn Thr Leu Val Glu Met Thr Leu 675 680 685 Gly Met Lys Lys Leu Lys Glu Glu Met Glu Gly Val Val Lys Glu Leu 690 695 700 Ala Glu Asn Asn His Ile Leu Glu Arg Phe Gly Ser Leu Thr Met Asp 705 710 715 720 Gly Gly Leu Arg Asn Val Asp Cys Leu 725 

What is claimed is:
 1. An isolated nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of: (a) a polynucleotide molecule having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:3; (b) a polynucleotide molecule encoding an amino acid sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO:4; and (c) a polynucleotide molecule, or its complement, that hybridizes to a denatured DNA molecule comprising the nucleic acid sequence of (a) in 50% formamide and 6×SSC at 42 degrees C., and washing in 0.2×SSC and 0.1% SDS at 68 degrees C., wherein the polynucleotide molecule encodes a polypeptide having kinase activity.
 2. A recombinant vector that directs the expression of the nucleic acid of claim
 1. 3. A host cell comprising the vector of claim
 2. 4. A method for the production of a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide molecule of claim 1, comprising culturing a recombinant host cell in a suitable culture medium, said recombinant host cell comprising a control sequence operably linked to a polynucleotide encoding said polypeptide.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the host cell is selected from the group consisting of bacterial cells, yeast cells, plant cells, and animal cells.
 6. The method of claim 4 further comprising recovering the polypeptide from the cell or culture medium.
 7. An isolated polynucleotide molecule that encodes a polypeptide having kinase activity and comprising amino acids 1-300 of SEQ ID NO:4.
 8. An isolated polynucleotide molecule encoding a polypeptide having kinase activity, the polynucleotide molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of amino acids 1 through 53 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 1 through 300 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 2 through 53 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 143 through 234 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 185 through 234 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 185 through 309 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 310 through 319 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 310 through 414 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 320 through 414 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 320 through 439 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 415 through 439 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 415 through 486 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 440 through 486 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 440 through 598 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 487 through 598 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 487 through 620 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 599 through 620 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 599 through 623 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 624 through 662 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 624 through 673 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 663 through 673 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 663 through 686 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 674 through 686 of SEQ ID NO:4, and amino acids 674 through 690 of SEQ ID NO:4; (b) a nucleotide sequence of (a), wherein said nucleotide sequence is a fragment of SEQ ID NO:3; (c) the nucleotide sequence of a polynucleotide molecule, or its complement, that hybridizes to a denatured DNA molecule comprising the nucleotide sequence of (b) in 50% formamide and 6×SSC at 42 degrees C., and washing in 0.2×SSC and 0.1% SDS at 68 degrees C., wherein the nucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having kinase activity; and (d) a nucleotide sequence that is at least 90% identical to the nucleotide sequence of (b), wherein the nucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having kinase activity.
 9. The isolated polynucleotide molecule of claim 8, wherein the polynucleotide molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of amino acids 1 through 53 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 1 through 300 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 2 through 53 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 143 through 234 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 185 through 234 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 185 through 309 of SEQ ID NO:4; (b) a nucleotide sequence of (a), wherein said nucleotide sequence is a fragment of SEQ ID NO:3; (c) the nucleotide sequence of a polynucleotide molecule, or its complement, that hybridizes to a denatured DNA molecule comprising the nucleotide sequence of (b) in 50% formamide and 6×SSC at 42 degrees C., and washing in 0.2×SSC and 0.1% SDS at 68 degrees C., wherein the nucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having kinase activity; and (d) a nucleotide sequence that is at least 90% identical to the nucleotide sequence of (b), wherein the nucleotide sequence encodes a polypeptide having kinase activity.
 10. The isolated polynucleotide molecule of claim 9, wherein the polynucleotide molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: amino acids 1 through 53 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 1 through 300 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 2 through 53 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 143 through 234 of SEQ ID NO:4, amino acids 185 through 234 of SEQ ID NO:4, and amino acids 185 through 309 of SEQ ID NO:4.
 11. The isolated polynucleotide molecule of claim 8, wherein the polynucleotide molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding amino acids 143 through 234 of SEQ ID NO:4.
 12. The isolated polynucleotide molecule of claim 8, wherein the polynucleotide molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding amino acids 185 through 234 of SEQ ID NO:4.
 13. The isolated polynucleotide molecule of claim 8, wherein the polynucleotide molecule comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding amino acids 185 through 309 of SEQ ID NO:4.
 14. A recombinant vector that directs the expression of a polynucleotide molecule of claim
 7. 15. A host cell comprising the vector of claim
 14. 16. A method for the production of a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide molecule of claim 7, comprising culturing a recombinant host cell in a suitable culture medium, said recombinant host cell comprising a control sequence operably linked to a polynucleotide encoding said polypeptide.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the host cell is selected from the group consisting of bacterial cells, yeast cells, plant cells, and animal cells.
 18. The method of claim 16 further comprising recovering the polypeptide from the cell or culture medium.
 19. A recombinant vector that directs the expression of a polynucleotide molecule of claim
 8. 20. A host cell comprising the vector of claim
 17. 21. A method for the production of a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide molecule of claim 8, comprising culturing a recombinant host cell in a suitable culture medium, said recombinant host cell comprising a control sequence operably linked to a polynucleotide encoding said polypeptide.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the host cell is selected from the group consisting of bacterial cells, yeast cells, plant cells, and animal cells.
 23. The method of claim 21 further comprising recovering the polypeptide from the cell or culture medium. 